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Warning against
Liberal-CP split
The Leader of the
Democratic Labor
Party, Senator Mc
Manus, warned the
leaders, of the two
major Opposition par
ties yesterday of dire
consequences if they
did not join forces in an
election for the House
of Representatives and
the Senate.
He also told the Leader
of the Cjountry Party, Mr
Anthony, and the Leader
of the Opposition, Mr
Snedden, of suggestions
within the DLP that the
party should concentrate
on the Senate election.
The view had been ex
pressed within the party
that the DLP did not have
much money and that it
should conserve its re
sources, Senator McManus
said at a press conference
after his meeting with the
two leaders.
. He said he believed that
the Labor Party ' would
have an advantage in the
event of an election for
the House of Represen
tatives because its forces
were not divided and it
would present a single
ticket.
He had told Mr Sned
den and Mr Anthony that
the Opposition parties
should, as far >.as possible,
unite and havfe joint can
didates.
"I am frankly appalled
at the news of the last two
weeks that the Liberal and
Country parties are going
to be opposing one
another's candidates and,
in some cases, extremely
important candidates", he
said.
"I am an old-fashioned
conservative who believes
that if you are in a fight
you want to get behind
one bloke and help him to
win. If you disseminate or
divide your forces you
often get quarrels and
troubles that don't help
your campaign".
Senator McManus said
that while he thought the
Government would be
soundly defeated in the
House of Representatives,
the results of the Senate
election would be very
close, and it was in these
circumstances that the Op
position parties would lose
by dividing their ticket.
He considered that a
united ticket also would
benefit all the Opposition
parties financially, but had
simply expressed the
general view to Mr Sned
den and Mr Anthony that
they should look at the
possibility of a united
team.
Lesson
learnt
"In the days when we
were fighting the commu
nists in tie industrial
groups, one of the prob
lems used to be that the
communists always had
one candidate and the
people opposed to them
had generally about five
or six, and I learnt the les
son then that if you are
going into a fight where
there is a vote involved,
try and reduce the number
of candidates on each side
as far as possible", he
said.
Several candidates at a
conference of Victorian
DLP candidates on Sun
day had suggested that the
DLP might consider not
contesting some Federal
seats in a House of Repre
sentatives election, Senator
McManus said.
He 'had informed both
Mr Anthony and Mr Sned
den of this and also of the
concern about the appar
ent disunity within the Op
position's ranks, but he
had emphasised that these
views had no official back
ing. . .
His personal view was
that he wanted a united
effort and that he would
not be helping a united ef
fort if he made a state
ment that he was not in
favour of running DLP
candidates in certain
areas.
The decision to contest
seats in the event of an
election for the House of
Representatives would be
made by DLP State
branches.
Senator McManus said
that he had been in
politics long enough to
know that "jou can be a
rooster today and a
feather duster tomorrow",
but he was confident of
retaining his seat in the
Senate at the election on
May 18.
In a statement issued at
the conference, Senator
McManus said that despite
the risks of a "divided
operation" the DLP would
vote against the Govern
ment's Supply Bills in the
Senate. "A double dis
solution has some dis
advantages for the DLP,
but the party feels that
Parliament, under the
Whitlam Government, is
drifting into hopeless
anarchy", the statement
said.
Second-seat Bill in Senate
The House of Repre
sentatives passed a Bill
yesterday which will
ensure that the ACT
has a second seat in the
House of Representa
tives in the event of a
double dissolution and
an election for both
Houses, on May 18.
The Minister for Ser
vices and Property, Mr
Daly, told the House that
the Bill was an interim
measure to provide for
two Members in the ACT
in the event of a general
election before the dis
tribution committee for
the ACT had completed
its task.
The appropriate proce
dures for the division of
the ACT into two elec
torates had been operating '
from some time but, "be
cause of the unprece
dented threat made by the
Opposition to deny Sup
ply" it might bo necessary
to hold a general election
before these procedures
had been completed.
If a general election was
held without the passage
of the interim measure
contained in the Bill
people in the ACT would
be denied any form of
democratic representation,
he said.
Mr Gorton (Lib, Vic)
said the Opposition would
not oppose the Bill and it
was introduced into the
Senate last night.
The distribution com
mittee suggested that the
ACT should be divided
along the shores of the
Molonglo River, Lake
Burley Griffin, and the
Murrumbidgce River.
Mr Daly said that all
the major political parties
in the ACT had agreed
with this suggestion which
resulted in two electorates
which would differ by
fewer thanl,000 electors.
Under existing legisla
tion the committee would
be required to wait until
April 18 for the receipt of
suggestions or objections
and can make no report to
the Government until after
that date.
The legilsalion approved
in the House yesterday
provides for the adoption
of the committee's propos
als by reducing this statu
tory period for receiving
objections and suggestions.
Mr Daly said yesterday
that since the committee
had issued its proposals
for the division of the
electorate last month no
objections had been re
ceived.
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