Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956), Thursday 21 April 1955, page 6


Victorian Govt. Defeated;

Election On May 28

MELBOURNE, April 20.-The Victorian Legislative Assembly election will be held on May 28, It was learnt tonight. This is the re sult of the defeat of the Cain Labour Govern ment at 4.25 a.m. today.

The Government was defeat-ed after a 12-hour debate on a no-confidence motion, moved by the Opposition Leader (Mr H. S. Bolte).

The Premier (Mr Cain) saw the Governor (Sir Dallas Brooks) at 3 p.m. and obtain-ed a dissolution of the As-sembly.

A special Cabinet meeting to decide an election date was held when Mr Cain returned from Government House.

Mr Cain said later that the date would not be announced officially until he met the House tomorrow.

There will be five parties and more than 200 candidates -both records-for the As-sembly election. There will be rival Labour candidates for at least 50 seats-one endorsed by the "new" ALP executive and the other by the "old" execu-

tive.

When the vote on the no-confidence motion was taken at 4.25 am. today, the 11 Coleman-Barry Labour mem-bers crossed the floor to vote against the Government.

The three Hollway Liberals left the Chamber and did not

vote.

Mr Cain claimed tonight that the Coleman-Barry group had entered into a shameless pact with the anti-Labour parties to defeat his Govern-ment.

He said It had committed the

greatest act of political treach-

ery in the annals of the La-bour movement. It had split a

great party that had been re-turned to government at the 1952

elections by an overwhelming majority.

It was the first time in the State's history that professed Labour men had joined forces with the Opposition in an at-tempt to destroy a party that had won the right to govern,

Mr Cain said.

Mr W. P. Barry tonight chal-lenged Mr Cain to accept the offer of Dr Evatt to take the Labour platform during the As-sembly election campaign.

"Mr Cain and his friends would not be game to have Dr Evatt here during the cam-paign," he said. "In any case, I am sure that Dr Evatt would soon find there was a conspiracy among his Victor-ian supporters to keep him off the platform."

Mr Barry said he had put out peace-feelers for unity, but they had been rejected. He believed that Mr Cain himself would have liked to listen, but was "a prisoner In the hands of Mr Stout, Dr Evatt and the Communist group."

Mr Barry claimed that his party had done the right thing in assisting to defeat the Cain Government.

"I feel that the people, when they hear our story, will re-turn us as a Government," he

said.