Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Monday 2 December 1929, page 15


VICTORIAN ELECTIONS

UNSATISFACTORY RESULT.

POSITION UNCHANGED.

TWO MINISTERS UNSEATED.

MELBOURNE, December 1.

The State election has left the political situa-tion unchanged and unsatisfactory. Neither the anti-Labour group nor the Labour Party has been given an absolute majority, and it appears that the balance of power will remain with the Country Progressive Party of four members, which precip-

itated the election.

It is probable that the state of parties in the new Parliament will be: -

New Old

Parlt. Parlt. Labour.30 28 Nationalist.l8 20 Country Party.10 10

Country Progressives .... 4 - 4 , Independent Liberals. 2 2 Independent. 1 1

One seat has been definitely gained by Labour, which might also win Castlemaine-Kyneton, and WangarattaOvens. Two Ministers have been un-seated. The Minister for Railways (Mr. Groves) lost the Dandenong con-stituency to Mr. Cremean (Labour), and Mr. R. M. Cuthbertson (Honorary Minister), was defeated for Albert Park by Mr. A. K. Wallace (Labour). Mr. T. C. Manifold (Nationalist), however, has a good chance, on the present figures of winning Hampden from Mr. A. Hughes, the retiring Labour mem-ber. Each of the party leaders, the Premier (Sir William M'Pherson), Mr. Hogan (the Labour Leader), Mr, Allen (Leader of the Country Party), and Mr. Dunstan (the Country Progressive Leader), has been returned.

At Albert Park the Labour candidate (Mr. Wallace) is leading Mr. Cuthbert-son by 1171 votes, and the outstanding votes cannot alter the position. Mr. Groves Is substantially behind Mr. Cre-mean m Dandenong. In Gippsland South, Mr. West, the retiring National-ist candidate, is practically certain, after the allocation of preferences, to be defeated by the Country'Party can-didate, Mr. Hyland. Mr. A. J. Kirton (Nationalist) seems likely to win the seat at Mornington, formerly held by Mr. H. Downward, who has retired, and whose son was the Country Party can-didate on this occasion. The position at Nunawading, where Mr. Menzies, K.C. (Na>t.), is leading by a large major-ity, cannot be altered. WangarattaOvens last held by Sir John Bowser (C.P.), who has retired, Is in doubt. Mr. Walker (Lab.) Is leading from Mr. Diffey (C.P.), who is the next highest of the four contestants. The AttorneyGeneral (Mr. Macfarlan) has won Brighton from three unendorsed Na-tionalist opponents. At CastlemaineKyneton the retiring Nat. candidate Mr. Langslow is leading by only 22 votes from Mr. Satchell (Labour). There are only a few votes to come. Mr. For-rest (Lib.) is being hard pressed at Caulfield by Mr. Mendelsohn (Nat.), and, although the position is doubtful, Mr. Forrest is likely to win. The posi-tion In Grant is interesting. The total of the Country Party and Nationalist candidates combined is nearly equal to that of the Labour candidate, Mr. Hjorth. Mr. Wettenhall, the Country Party member in the last Parliament, is in a difficult position at Lowan. It seems unlikely that he will receive the proportion of Country Progressive pre-ferences cast for Mr. Bussau to enable him to defeat-Mr. M'Donald (Lab.). Mr. Mackrell, the retiring Country Party member for Upper Goulburn, Is leading Mr. Withers (Lab.) by only a small majority, but he should retain his seat. Sir William M'Pherson's majority at Hawthorn was considerably reduced from the last election. Mr. Hogan is leading the Nationalist candidate, Mr.

Hartrye, at Warrenhelp-Grenville, by a | substantial majority.

Tlie following seats were still in doubt when counting ceased, the names of the candidates regarded as likely to win the seats 'being given. Those marked with an asterisk are retiring members:Castlemaine and Kyneton, "Mi-. W. L. Langslow (Nat.); Caulfield, "Mr. E. P. Forrest (Prog. Lib.) ; Grant, *Mr. R. T. Hjorth (Lab.); Lowan, *M. E. Wetten-hall (O.P.) ; Mornington, Mr. A. J. Kir-ton (Nat.) ; Upper Goulburn, »Mr. E. K. Mackrell (C.P.); Wangaratta Ovens, Mr. C. A. Walker (Lab.).

NEW MEMBERS.

The latest returns last night indicated that the following new members would take seats in the Legislative Assembly: -Mr. A.K.Wallace (Lab.), Albert Park;

Mr. H. M. Cremean (Lab.), Dandenong; > Mr. H. J. T. Hyland (C.P.), Gippsland South; Mr. T. C. Manifold (Nat.). Hampden; Mr. A. J. Kirton (Nat.V Mornington; Mr. R. C. Menzies, K.C (Nat.), Nunawading; Mr. C. A, Walkef (Lab.), Wangaratta-Ovens. The mans bers of the last Parliament who werkdefeated on Saturday appear, according to the latest figures, to include the fol-lowing: Mr. G. Groves (Nat.), Dande-nong; Mr. R. M. Cuthbertson (Nat.)< Albert Park; Mr. W. West (Nat.), Gippsland South"; Mr. A. Hughes (Lab.). Hampden.

PREMIER DISAPPOINTED.

Commenting to-night on the result of the election, the Premier (Sir Wil-liam M'Pherson) expressed keen disap-pointment that no party had been given a clear mandate to govern. The experience in the last Parliament show-ed that the Legislative Assembly, as it was then composed, was unworkable, and he was hopeful that at the elec-tion the people would have returned one party or the other in sufficient strength to maintain stable Govern-ment. While the results In some elec-torates were still in doubt, the net re-sult of the election appeared to be that the Labour Party was stronger by at least one member, while the National-ist Party had lost one seat. He was naturally disappointed that the Nationalist Party was not returned with an Increased strength. The Pre-mier added that he could not at this stage indicate what the Ministry's plans were. A meeting of the Cabinet would be hold to-morrow to discuss the situation.

MR. HOGAN PLEASED.

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Hogan) to-night expressed satisfaction with the result of the election. "The voice of the people was emphatically in favour of the Labour Party," said Mr. Hogan. "The M'Pherson minority Nationalist Ministry was crushingly defeated. I am satisfied with the result of the efforts of the Labour Party, and I appreciate the efforts of those who helped to bring about this result."

(Details of the polling appear on

pagre 10.)