Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends
Anton Kreitzer
YaBB God
Posts: 4,166
Political Matrix
E: 8.00, S: 3.11
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« on: June 12, 2014, 03:57:35 AM » |
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Polling almost a fifth of the vote , the revived Communist Party won more votes than either they or State Labor had in the past, winning the NSW seats of Cook, Cunningham, Hunter, Newcastle, and West Sydney, along with the Victorian seat of Gellibrand from Labor. This reduced the governing Labor Party to 34.6%, the new Liberal Party getting the same share of the vote as Labor. The Country Party managed to soak up some Liberal votes, and gained three seats in the process, while the Liberals lost a seat to Labor.
Summary of 1951 election:
Labor 57 (-6)
Liberal 43 (-1)
Country 17 (+3)
Communist 6 (+4)
Two-party preferred vote: 53.85-46.15
Having lost their majority, and with two of their members (those for the NT and ACT) only being able to vote on matters to their territories, the Labor Party were in a considerable amount of strife, with the only path to a majority in the House being seeking support from the Communist Party. PM H.V. Evatt, a defender of free speech and anti-communist, found this pill incredibly hard to swallow, as the Communist Party wanted a radical communist makeover of Australia, including immediate withdrawal from the Korean War, ANZUS, and nationalisation of all of the economy. PM Evatt, on the other hand, merely wanted to continue the democratic socialist route laid out by his recently deceased predecessor, Ben Chifley.
A hypothetical Labor minority government would have been incredibly disasturous, as it would have lost a no-confidence motion almost immediately, if the new Communist MPs voted against the government. Evatt, now caretaker PM, went to the Governor-General, the Right Honourable John McKell, to ask for a fresh House of Representatives election, to try and gain a majority. While there was a war on, namely the Korean War, the Governor-General approved of Evatt's request, as a government from the Parliament produced by the 1951 election would have been incredibly unstable.
An election has been called for the 16th of February, 1952.
Party platforms at this election:
Labor Party Prime Minister H.V. Evatt is campaigning on the Chifley Government's record in power, the ANZUS agreement, which Evatt himself signed the previous year, expanding funding for the newly established ANU, give the states more education and health funds, and expanding funding for ASIO. When questioned on where the funds will come from, Evatt responded with a plan to increase income taxes on the wealthiest Australians, with a proposed top rate of 75%.
Liberal Party Robert Menzies and the Liberal Party are campaigning on cutting taxes for the middle classes, lowering and removing barriers to businesses, protecting the freedoms of individual Australians, an assisted migration scheme, and are also backing the ANZUS agreement.
Country Party Arthur Fadden and the Country Party are once again running on a staunch anti-Communist platform, Fadden stating that the "defense of Australia in these times is vital for our survival as a nation." Fadden has reiterated his opposition to any measure to collectivise agriculture.
Communist Party Now led by MP for West Sydney and former trade union leader, Lance Sharkey, the Communists are calling for immediate termination of the ANZUS agreement, abolition of all governments barring the Commonwealth Government, immediate withdrawal from the Korean War, and nationalisation of the entire economy.
Voting is open for 72 hours.
Me: Liberal.
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