Fusion Unlikely

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 513, 16 November 1928, Page 8

Fusion Unlikely

PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY RESTORED House Will Control Ministry (Written for THE SUN) PARTY administrations are long-lived in New Zealand, and political crises w hich make and unmake Ministries are few and far between; hence the lack of understanding, on the part of many persons, of the present political situation and the loose talk of the possibilities of fusions, coalitions, another appeal to the country, and so forth. These may be dismissed as hardly worth consideration for the moment.

The nearest the Reform Party and the Liberals got to fusion was in 1925, when the outlook was very uncertain and the possibilities were fully explored. A compromise could have been reached on the distribution of portfolios, but what wrecked the negotiations was the fact that fusionist members would have been entitled to adoption as the Ministerial candidates at the election of 1925, which meant scrapping many party candidates who had already announced their intention

of contesting seats and whose candidature had been approved by the party leaders. At any rate the anti-fusionists in the Reform Party got their way and the sweeping victory which followed vindicated their contentions. Fusion is equally impossible to-day. The days of two-party Parliaments are gone for ever. There are three powerful groups in the present House, and Mr. Rushworth represents the be-

ginnings of a fourth, a purely agrarian division, which may easily grow into something more formidable. Governments in future will be dependent on their ability to command the support of more than one faction. The practical effect will be to restore Parliamentary authority over Ministries and to invest the private member with powers and responsibilities which have become atrophied through the domination of Seddons and Masseys, whose will was law because of the strength of the party machine. There is nothing to prevent a minority Government from doing good and useful work, or a minority party iu opposition from assisting to shape legislation along sound and progressive lines. A dissolution of Parliament before its term is up can only occur as the result of a deadlock, and after his Excellency the Governor-General has exhausted the resources at his disposal for providing himself with a Prime Minister. Party leaders do not, as a rule, precipitate a political crisis unless the circumstances are propitious for an appeal to the country and they have reason to believe that the country would endorse their action. If Sir Joseph Ward takes office, as seems probable, there could be no excuse or justification for the Reform Party taking any step which would involve another appeal to the country until such time has elapsed, or something has occurred, to give ground for the belief that the country would approve. Further, the formation of a Ward Ministry will do much to clear up the situation. The Independents and the loose adherents of the Reform Party, one of whom is already indicating his readiness to accommodate himself to an altered situation, will be able to line up—at a price—with the new Government, and everyone will be on side. It is always dangerous to prophesy, but there is little reason for suggesting that the present Parliament will not run its full course, or that it will not do just as useful work as its predecessor. After all, the individual private member finds it hard enough to get there, and he is not going to vote himself out of the job any sooner than he can help. ONLOOKER.