THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, October 8, 1940. THE AUSTRALIAN IMPASSE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24423, 8 October 1940, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, October 8, 1940. THE AUSTRALIAN IMPASSE

The demands which were put forward on behalf of the Australian Labour Party last week did not augur satisfactorily for the success ■of the conference of party leaders in Melbourne yesterday. The suggestion that, because the Labour and anti-Labour forces in the newly elected Parliament are- of equal strength,' the former should displace the latter in Ministerial office is certainly ingenious. But just as the ariti-Labour forces consist of two parties, so also do the Labour forces. It is to be admitted that the Australian Labour Party is the most powerful single party in the House of Representatives, but it has to rely on the support of the four members elected as. nominees of the nonCommunist Labour Party—the name under which the Lang Party disguises itself —to bring it up to the strength of the combined United Australia and Country Parties. It

has been stated since the election was held, and no doubt it has been stressed since the numbers of the respective parties were ascertained, that the differences between the two branches of-the Labour Party have been composed. It may readily enough be understood that this is the case if Mr Curtin is, in the hope of securing office, prepared to make such concessions to Mr Beasley and his comrades as may be sought from him. Even, however, if unity has been achieved within the Labour ranks, since not otherwise is the prize of office obtainable, the argument that the Government should resign, or, if it does not- resign, should be dismissed, because it is not numerically stronger than the Opposition does not carry conviction. If party interests are to dominate the political situation, the Government under Mr Menzies is entitled to retain office until it has been defeated by a vote in Parliament. That it can avoid defeat in the event of the appointment of one of its own party as Speaker seems impossible. The fact is that neither an anti-Labour Government nor a Labour Government can command what is regarded as a working majority in the Parliament as it is now constituted. This should not be a consideration of even the smallest moment if the temptation to think only in terms of party interests were not apparently so overwhelming at the present time. It is most regrettable that party issues have not been entirely sunk in face of. the national emergency. Mr Menzies has at least recognised that a common effort is most effectually to be prosecuted through the formation of a National Government. It stands to the discredit of Mr Curtin and his party that they rejected all the overtures that were made to them in the past for their co-opera-tion in the task of national administration for the duration of the war. The parliamentary gains which they have secured—practically all, apparently, in one State —merely emphasise the desirability of the creation of a National Government, for not otherwise does it seem possible that the political machinery of the Commonwealth can function smoothly.