AK's Australian Election Series

Firstly, sorry for the delay, I was on vacation for the weekend, and didn't end up finishing this entry before my departure.

The 1952 House-only election saw a slight national swing to Labor, enough to win 3 additional seats, causing the Liberal and Country Parties to go backwards by two and one seats respectively. The Communists, while going back slightly in terms of votes, held all of their seats comfortably, and polled well overall, especially in New South Wales, where Labor candidates in marginal seats benefited from Communist preferences. Labor still did not have a majority, being three seats short, five seats short when taking into account the NT and ACT seats, which only voted on matters of their respective territories, confidence and supply matters. New South Wales, long a bastion of various left-wing movements, including Lang Labor, State Labor, and now the Communists, had a stronger left wing vote than most of the remainder of Australia, particularly. Victoria and Queensland, both of which returned majority Coalition delegations. Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia all returned majority Labor delegations to the Parliament.

With only three sears short of a majority, including the NT and ACT seats, Labor still need the support of another party in order to govern, as a Labor minority government would almost instantly be voted down in a motion of no confidence by the Coalition and Communist MPs, which would cause a third election within the space of half a year. The Australian people by this point in time were suffering from severe voting fatigue, so PM H.V. Evatt knew he had to form a government out of the current Parliament. Some on the left of the Labor Party wanted a deal with the Communists, as they believed it would prove for a more efficient working relationship, while others, on the right of the party, wanted a deal with the Coalition, stemming from fears that a Communist deal would split the party. Others did not like either side, being weary of a party split should the Communists support the government, and selling out to the upper classes if an agreement is made with the Liberals.

With the Korean War still very much ongoing, the time until the 1956 Melbourne Olympics ticking, and the impeding introduction of television to Australia, a government needed to be formed promptly. Evatt eventually had a talk with Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden about a possible anti-communist national unity government, on the back of over 80% of Australians rejecting communism at the ballot box, and the two sides’ agreement on matters like the ANZUS treaty, the Korean War, (for the most part) and ASIO. Menzies and Fadden had previously served under a national unity government in World War II. There would be many compromises to be made, considering the differing stances between the three leaders on the issues, television being an example: Evatt wanted government-funded television through a licence fee, like the British BBC, while Menzies preferred American-style commercial television, and Fadden wanting rural areas to acquire access to television. On the 4th of March, 1952, an agreement was made between Labor and the Coalition, involving the following points:

Income tax cuts for the middle class, while taxes are to be increased on the upper class, at a top rate of 60%, an increase from the current 40%.
Television, due to commence broadcasting in the Melbourne and Sydney regions in time for the 1956 Olympic Games, will allow for a government run channel, namely an expansion of the ABC into television, and up to two commercial channels per television market. The ABC aim to provide television to all of Australia by 1970. These licensing agreements are open for amendment in the future by another government, expanding either the government or commercial networks. Local content quotas were also set, at a minimum of 60% for the ABC and 30% for commercial networks.
ASIO and ANU funding is to be expanded by 10% over the course of the Parliament, due to expire in 1955.
The minimum income tax threshold will be raised by 15%.
No attempts to collectivise agriculture will be made.
No nationalisations or privatisations will occur.
A commitment to the Korean War.

The ANZUS Treaty officially came into force on the 29th of April, 1952, by which point, the Korean War resembled the Western Front in World War I, namely men living in tunnels and sandbagged forts behind barbed wire. Australia’s 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment continued to fight in Korea until the 27th of July, 1953, when a demilitarized zone was established around the 38th parallel, or the border between North and South Korea. Some Australian troops would stay on for another four years around the DMZ.

Back home, severe floods hit southeastern Australia between the 14th and 18th of June, 1952, leaving 600 homeless and a railway line unusable in Moss Vale, New South Wales. The government offered a significant aid package to those homeless, including temporary accommodation, and immediately got to work repairing the railway line, which was repaired by the end of the year. Iron ore was discovered in northwestern Western Australia in November 1952 by Lang Hancock, prominent mining magnate and Country Party supporter. This provided a significant boost to the Western Australian economy, as did the discovery of oil off the coast of Exmouth the following year on fhe 4th of December.

The new monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned on the 2nd of June, 1953, and the Australian wattle was part of the floral emblems embroidered, along with those of the other Commonwealth nations, such as the maple leaf and sliver fern from Canada and New Zealand respectively. While Australians could not watch the coronation on television, like British people could, the coronation was eagerly listened to on the radio by the vast majority of the nation. The Television Act was passed on the 20th of March, after the concessions were made as highlighted in the governmental agreement, with the Australian Broadcasting Control Board being set up to regulate licences, while frequencies and broadcasting standards were overseen by the Postmaster-General’s Department.

The Australian Academy of Science was established in 1954, as an independent body, but with government assistance. It stated its aims as promoting science, shaping government science policy, and bringing greater awareness of science to the Australian public. 1954 also saw Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to Australia on the 3rd of February, the establishment of Australia’s first Antarctic research station on the 13th of February, Mawson station, and the Petrov affair in April. Vladimir Petrov, a colonel in what became the KGB, had previously visited Australia in 1951, and made contact with ASIO, offering evidence of Soviet espionage in exchange for asylum in Australia. He did not intend to defect with his wife, who lied stating that Australian authorities had captured Petrov. Evodokia Petrova, Petrov’s wife, was in the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs), and defection was not taken kindly by the USSR. PM Evatt called a Royal Commission for further investigation, and Petrov's documents were alleged to have provided evidence of a Soviet spy ring in Australia, including two staff members of PM Evatt. Evatt himself would appear before the Royal Commission as the attorney for his staff members. The allegations of having Soviet allies as staff did hurt Evatt and the Labor Party though, and diplomatic relations between Australia and the USSR crumbled.

By this point, despite their agreements on ANZUS, ASIO, and the now-passed Korean War, relations between PM Evatt and Deputy PM Menzies were becoming extremely strained, especially over communism, general attitudes and the economy. Menzies could not stand communists, pointing to the documents presented in the Petrov affair, and Evatt, while anti-communist, was not anti-communist to the extent where he wanted to outlaw the party, pointing to how the previous banning was ineffective. Menzies and Arthur Fadden were also facing pressure from their respective parties by 1954 as well - Fadden had been Country Party leader since 1940, and Menzies had been leader of the United Australia and Liberal Parties since 1939, and both leaders had only won one election out of the six in which they had been leaders, namely 1945. Menzies eventually addressed a Liberal Party meeting on the 23rd of September, 1954, and stated that if the Coalition do not win the next election, he will resign as leader, as he felt that one victory out of six was evidence that it was time to make way for new leadership. Fadden made a similar deal at a Country Party meeting the same week.

PM Evatt signed the Manila Pact, which led to the creation of the South East Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO, on the 8th of September 1954. SEATO came into existence on the 19th of February, 1955, by which point Parliament had been dissolved for the upcoming election, which was due by the end of Autumn 1955. SEATO created an anti-communist bilateral defense treaty between Australia, the USA, the UK, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan, France and the Philippines. These states helped protect Laos and South Vietnam, the latter of which was already at war with North Vietnam.

An election has been called for the 12th of March, 1955.

Due to the character limit, party platforms are in the next post.

	Welcome, Guest. Please login or register. Did you miss your activation email? April 25, 2024, 07:23:09 AM

News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more