The Australian correspondent of the Times, in a letter from
Sydney dated August 19th, gives an interesting account of the party manoeuvres resulting from the Parliamentary dead- lock. Mr. Cook, the Liberal Premier who succeeded Mr. Fisher, is in the position of being able to carry the Lower Chamber only by the Speaker's casting vote, while he is unable to carry the Upper Chamber at all. But owing to the pro- , visions of the Commonwealth Act governing the periodic election of Senators, it is impossible for him to demand a complete dissolution of Parliament until the Senate has rejected a measure passed twice at an interval of not less than three months by the House of Representatives. While, there- fore, he is manoeuvring to bring this about and secure a working majority in both Houses, the Labour Party are manoeuvring for a dissolution of the Lower House alone, with a hope of regaining their majority. The correspondent's criticism of Mr. Cook's programme is that, apart from the remanets common to both parties, the Liberal policy is largely one of reversal and negation. Per contra the Labour policy would simply be
not to undo anything. He regrets the marked tendency of naw Ministers to reverse or meddle with their predecessors' actions merely for campaign purposes. This provokes recrimination and retaliation, and he does not acquit the Labour Party of deliberate provocation in Parliament. But at least Labour has achievements to boast of. " They have done many wrong things, but at least they have done things, while the Liberals are even now only trying to undo things."
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