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CIRCUMVENTION OF
REFERENDUM
Airways Decision Indication
Of Federal Policy
CANBERRA, November 24.
The bombshell announcement by the Acting Prime
Minister (Mr. Forde) on Wednesday of the Federal Gov- <*>
ernment's decision to proceed with the immediate nation- <*>
alisation of Austrian interstate airways, has set the seal
of conviction to an impression mMch has been growing
in high Federal quarters mince the specitd cameos meet*
ings before the opening of this session thmt the Federal
Labor Party is embarking on a deliberate and systematic
policy for circumventing ike decision reached at the
referendum in August.
i equally dear. In peacetime any
" fe^1? 00 <*? "^ **Jeet is ?*
-i egffrely the province of the States.
25* SS2S. ???? however, tbat
, by ratifying an international con
: J*?*? 011 ?** Oo?monvw?ti may
ggy i S6_tiiea> y-m?!ttoK power* to
. oreaa: down iilhaial bar
- 555J uld UnK *? tamress ? nde
L f?£Udinx night baking on the
I The real sJgTrtncaoce of ttus de
; dsfan is to be f oand in gossip in
belabor lobbies. Tbere tbepos
sfbditjr of enforcing in Australia.
-by Commonwealth i??i?i.^i<? a
i maximum 40-bour workmg week
' byjhe rmtifteaaoo of a piuhpecUve
lU> cooventto Is bein* canvassed
' witfa S. X?? d deal ?* interest, and
i once the limitations, tt any. oo the
? application of the treaty-makmK
i clause to domestic problems is
dMutiy established, there is pn
: bably hardly any Umtt to the ex
; tent to which ft may be used to
- give the Commonwealth tbe
powec? which tbe people withheld
i Fbr Instance, it is not outside the
! bounds of possibility that a cen
- tleman's agreement with another
- Dominion, also under Labor con
- tool, could be used to enable the
- Commonwealth to surmount some
- of its internal constitutiona] dif
i acuities.
j Lively Speculation
i Tbe implications of tbe airways
decision in Mr. Curtin's absence
; continue to give rise to the liveliest
? speculation. It has been most con
? ndently asserted in tbe highest offi
cial quarters for many months that
? Mr. Curtin himself bad rejected!
: the nationalisation plan, and leaned
I Strongly tO thp ?="BP^*J"n f^ainiTMM^
Iby the inter-departmental com
mittee that rationalised private en
. terprise should conduct the post
. war airways under an arrangement
. whereby toe companies operating
; profitable inter-capital routes
should accept a collateral responsi
hUtty to took after ?greed develop
mental routes.
These reports are all ta good
agreement with aD Mr. CmUn's
statements over the last tt months
.of the future control of hmJuf^T
and Industry.
It is now being thought signifi
; cant that tbe hasty o^tSat^ to na
i tnoaUse tbe airways was made on
: tbe eve of tbe special caucus meet
; ing which preceded tbe session.
i This meeting was called for tbe ad
mitted purpose of —"Ming the can
. cos to examine tbe progiet? ?""frr
' by the Government m applying tra
, ditional Labor policy in its post
war developmental plans Ac
i cording to forecasts. & was to have
i been a difficult ?—?hW for tbe
r Government.
; Canon Committed
Mr. CurttoVs illness, coupled with
nth+r rtmwt'Ki.iiwt* ?ihwmhi^| at tbe
' time. took, most of tbe semg out oC
! the proceedings. Hevertbekss.
many ohwaneiA now believe that
the airways decision was made on
tbe eve of this caucus ?????iW so
that tt could be presented to the
rank and file as tiMaac at tbe
Government's good faith tf the
| meeting threatened to get out of
? tt is accepted that tbe airways',
. decision, coupled with the other in- ;
stances of policy application which :
? nave been summarised, dearly
' show that notwithstanding the as
? sorances given by Mr. Curtin, tbe
' f^iw?? has definitely *^~niiiHlnl it- !
' self to an outright programme for
carrying out tabor's platform. i
' One Opposition muiflw tttb ,
I week declared that Mr. Curtia was ;
in the unhappy position of a lion :
, tamer, who. having momentarily
- taken bis eye off tbe boo. was on
able to Ox the beast's eye again
There Is probably a Rood deal at
? bard troth in this stanue.
1 Mr Curtin's funess has removed
. his personal tnflnrnce from cameos
' proceedings for tbe first time since j
he assnnMfi office. In tbe brief!
period in which he has been in hos
pital there have been radical de
partures, directed by caucus pres
sure, from the principles, both m|
policy matters and in admmistra-!
taon which Mr. Curtin has consis-!
; ten?V foOoved and has been aide'
;to induce the caucus to accept. !
, The coal conferences this weefc.j!
: which have [noduced the strongest',
inferential evidence that a new,
series of concessions to the miners:
are in prospect, show how in ad-j
ministrativc matters Mr CartiDs '
policy is being abandoned, as the:
' other decisions reveal the saaie
change of front in potter matters. !
"Bit Between Teeth" i
The caucus at the moment has I
the bit between its teeth. Whether
Mr. Curtin win be able when he I
returns to apply a curb which win :
re-direct the trend of events to 1
the nearer middle course which be I
has preferred is a matter which in \
the lobbies is accepted as prob- ]
lematical. 1
Many members see in the deve
lopments of the last few weeks ?
dose parallel between tbe rela
jtions oi the caucus to Mr. Curtta
I and the caucus to Mr. Scullin. In
i the last year of Mr. Scullin?£ regime ;
I tbe repudiation of Mr. Scu?in'si
statements by tbe caucus became | ?
notorious. jj
This has revived Interest in *ti\ '
Curtin's future. A big proportion I 1
of members, without any categoric ij
reasons for doing so, feel that betl
?till never resume tbe dominating
position in the party which be has 1
held up-to-date. Many feel also *
that the chances are that if he re- '
Isumes active leadership it will be
for a short time only.
The airways decision is only an
outstanding case among a p^mi^"*l
Of intlinatir)r\p of tile Shape Which
this policy is taking.
Opposition members are pointing
out that notwithstanding the fact
that the Attorney-General (Dr.
Evatt) went to the length of in
cluding a statement of the Gov
ernment's pte*ig to wi^tra aluminium
in the Yes case for the referendum,
Tasmania, which was to be the
beneficiary under the scheme, re
jected the referendum decisively.
The Labor caucus has since con
firmed the plan on a basts which
gnnWPf; (1^ commonwealth to
circumvent the constitutional bar
which the referendum result con
firmed, by going into partnership
with the Government of Tasmania,
Immediately afterwards the caucus
ordered an enquiry into the possi
bility of naHnngUringt the existing
ancillary industries for the rolling
of nittminiiitM ingots and the fab*
rication of aluminium Roods.
This decision was followed im
mediately by another one. in
which the balanced warning by the
chairman of the Secondary Indus
tries Commission (Mr. j. K. Jen
sen) against an attempt at Gov
ernment trading from the muni
tion plants after the war was re
jected and a proposal that the
Government should seek means for
using these plants which would
withstand constitutional challenge
was adopted.
The underlying theory appeals
to be that by co-opting the as
sistance of a State the constitu
tional barrier can be surmounted.
This week's caucus meeting gave
a direction that the Government
should mvestieate the ratification
by the International Labor Office
convention on night fr? M"p
Here the approach to constitu
tional limitations is different, but.
according to Opposition members,
the attempt to get round them is
As port of the Church of England okm for the expansion of Christian welfare work, Momington, in Wellington square. North Adelaide, has been purchased os a Diocesan Mission House. Help
As port of the Church of England okm for the expansion of Christian
welfare work, Momington, in Wellington square. North Adelaide, has
been purchased os a Diocesan Mission House.
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