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'LIGHTNING DASH' PLANNED
BY MR. MENZIES
MELBOURNE, Nov. 27: In a "lightning dash" across
four States in the next five days, the Leader of the
Federal Opposition (Mr. Menzies) will intensify the
Liberal and Country Parties' crusade against the
Government on three main points-petrol rationing.
Communism and the Socialist State.
His voice is fully restored and
he is inspired by the strong
Liberal confidence snown in
South Australia last week. The
competitive Ballarat meetings
* of the two Federal political
leaders last Friday night em
phasised that the election result
is likely to be close.
"BOB OR BEN?"
The usual circumstance of the
two leaders holding rival meetings
within a block of each other gave
observers an opportunity to note
how more and more the contest
is closing around the question:
"Bob or Ben?"
Mr. Chilley is turning most of
,his invective upon Mr. Menzies,
who in turn last week christened
the Labour leader "Japanese Iron
Ben" because the Federal Govern
mrnt is importing Japanese iron
to meet the shortages created by
Communist-inspired strikes on the
coalfields. Mr. Menzies is at pains
to impress all audiences with the
unity of the Liberal and Country
Parties on policy. Mr. Chifley is
trying to drive a wedge between
Mr. Menzies and the Leader of
the Federal Parliamentary Coun
try Party (Mr. Fadden).
VERBAL TUSSLE.
This verbal tussle made the high
'light of last week the seeminaly
new statement by ,Mr. Menztes
that he "would socialise tomor
row morning" any monopoly busi
ness working against the public
interest. Mr. Menzies quickly
points out that, far from this strik
ing Mr. Fadden dumb, it is a
paraphrase of, the section on
monopolies in the joint policy
statement.
In Tasmania, Victoria. New
South Wales and Queensland next
week, Mr. Menzies will insist that
Mr. Chifley is trying to make Lab
our's all-out Socialisation objec
tive, as stated in the Labour
Party's platform, respectable by
stealing "the superb common
sense of the Opposition's policy
against monopoly private enter.
prise which gets out of hand.
Election controversy in the next
14 days will turn on the defini
tion of Socialism and when
monopolies are exploiting the
public. Mr. Menzies is surprised
that the public interest at his
meetings has been so keen on the
dangers of the Socialist State. He
feels "a wave of excitement which
was not there in 1946." "But I
have no illusions about fore
casting election results on the en
thusiasm of clection meetings,"
he said this week. "' have a
lively recollection of 1943, when
the meetings were never better
but our licking never greater."
"LIGHT AND HEAT."
Audiences take on "both light
and heat," Mr. Menzies declares
whenever petrol is mentioned.
Around this problem Mr. Menzies
concentrates his criticism on the
Government's "lack of drive in
making positive moves to solve
the dollar shortage." The Men
zies dollar plan, he explains pri.
vately, is encouragement of pri
vate dollar investment to bring
more capital goods into Austra
lia, thereby clearing the way to
earn dollars.
Under a Uiberal-C.P. Coalition
Government, he believes that
American capital would flow into
Australia "because there would
be complete stability and no fear
of nationalisation." Mr. Menzies
also favours a dollar loan to meet
immediate essentials from dollar
areas. At all meetings he calls up
the ghost of bank nationalisation.
"Shake not thy locks at me," he
cries, "but remember the threat
of bank nationalisation is still
haunting us when you fill in your
ballot papers on December 10.
Let us bury this Government
with its death-bed repentance."
(<. Hauthinson. 43 Collina-street,
Melbourne.)
$