THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” MONDAY, JULY 5, 1943. ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3284, 5 July 1943, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” MONDAY, JULY 5, 1943. ELECTION CAMPAIGN

As soon as the intention to hold a general election in Australia was announced the flood gates of criticism and recrimination were opened. Unfortunately the conduct of the war is the main theme of controversy. The result is likely to be a disturbance of public unity at a time when co-operation is urgently necessary. It is to be hoped that no such occasion for bitterness will arise in New Zealand in the forthcoming election campaign. Because of this danger of disunity it is desirable that the campaign should be as brief as is possible consistently with the allowance of sufficient time for the presentation of the rival policies. That a political battle should be necessary at this time is not a compliment to the party politicians and more particularly to those who rejected the widespread appeal for the elimination of party government for the duration of the war. It must be admitted that if the conduct of the war policy in Australia is as faulty as some critics allege it is better that the truth should be brought to light on the hustings than that undesirable conditions should be hidden and allowed to continue. The remedy there was, of course, to have wider representation in the War Cabinet, if non-party rule was impossible. The direction .of a desperate war is not a matter for any one party. That fact is so obvious and important that the party “isolationists” come out of the controversy with little credit. The stigma, however, falls not upon the politician alone, but upon the electorate as well, for a Government or a Parliament is largely a reflex of public thought and action. Too often the politician is voted to power because he is a member of a certain party other than because he is fitted to govern. The campaign has begun quietly in New Zealand, but only the advance parties have yet fregun skirmishing. When the argument begins in earnest there will no doubt be red herrings and diversions which will lead away from the fundamental issues. War administration and financial and economic policies will come under fire. In this connection candidates would be well advised to consider the interests of their country with the knowledge that the enemy will be listening and watching and that after all the successful prosecution of the war is the main consideration.

OPINION OF ELECTORS

If a recent “straw vote” taken in New Zealand reflected the opinion of a true cross-section of the community, several interesting political developments have been revealed. The difficulty has been, in New Zealand, to obtain a fairly representative vote in such an unofficial ballot. If such could be obtained with reasonable certainty and there is no reason why it should not, straw polls would, provide a useful test of public opinion on many important subjects, free from the heat and confusion of election campaigns. The poll under discussion “elected a new Parliament,” but more important than the figures arrived at were the revelations of the thought processes of the voters. The results suggested among other things that in their private minds elect-

ors respect men and politics rather than parties. Obviously many people vote against their own convictions. More than 60 per cent, of those whose votes were recorded expressed a preference for independent candidates rather than party supporters. And yet when the day of the election arrives it will no doubt be found that the old party prejudice will prevail. It always has been so. . Again, preferential voting was strongly favoured, but that system has not been adopted. On the question of the right of recall of a member of Parliament before the expiry of his term the “straw voters” were most emphatic that such a right should be retained. Women especially were convinced on that point. The general conclusion from the poll is that Parliament is not wholly, if largely, a reflex of the private opinion of the electorate—unless in fact the general election does disclose a changed approach to the official polling booth.