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A welcome election The United Australia Party, in common, I believe, with the great majority of the electors of Australia, welcomes this election. It gives us an opportunity of placing before the people the choice between sound honest finance and government as against fantastic schemes of inflation and political control of currency and credit. Our kinsmen in Britain have just emerged triumphantly from such a test as that to which our Australian electors are now to be put. I feel sure that the...

Men and women of Australia. As head of the Government which for twenty months has had the solemn duty and grave responsibility of maintaining intact our country, I give you an account of the Government’s trusteeship. The circumstances in which, the Labor Government took, office in October, 1941, were unprecedented. Two Prime Ministers had failed to control the Parliament and the parties comprising the then Government had split into bitter factions, with place and position tussling against duty...

Introductory This Commonwealth election will be the first since the war. It will therefore present to the people of Australia their first chance, as voters, of deciding the character and shape of our own portion of the post-war world. The contest will not be one about mere details, nor can it be usefully decided by appeals to personal self-interest. It will be one of those elections at which fundamental principles must be examined and re-examined. We all desire to build a new national structure...

This policy speech is delivered on behalf of both the Liberal Party and the Country Party. It cannot in the space of an hour cover all the important subjects. It will therefore be supplemented by Mr. Fadden and by myself as occasion arises. It is a joint policy. Further, just as we have acted jointly in Opposition, so we now tell you that we shall set up a combined Government if you elect us. A policy speech is not just a list of promises, though many people who cry out ‘What is your policy?’...

Sixteen months ago, I delivered a policy speech upon which you returned us to office. From all my Cabinet colleagues (with a special mention for my friend Mr. Fadden, the Leader of the Country Party), and the splendid body of private members who sit behind us, I have received most generous loyalty, and you have received constant and laborious service. But we have come back to you, long before our due time simply because the Labor Party refused to recognise the umpire’s decision; used its Senate...

We come before you for a renewed vote of confidence. In this speech I have no intention to rest upon past achievements. But I will speak about our record; partly to give an account of stewardship, and partly because we are willing to be judged, not just upon new promises, but upon past promises faithfully performed. We hand back to your custody as voters a nation more prosperous, more productive, possessed of more social justice, better defended, and with more friends abroad, than ever before...

It is only 18 months since you re-elected the Liberal Party and Country Party Government. You may therefore ask why there is a dissolution so soon. I will simply mention the two principal reasons. First, under the Constitution there must be an election for the retiring half of the Senate this financial year; and it is common sense that we should take the opportunity of having the House of Representatives election on the same day. This is economical and makes for stable government. Second, and I...

I am delighted to have here my comrade, Sir Arthur Fadden, who is retiring after playing a notable part in national stability and development. I thank him for his work and feel sure that Australia will not desert it. At repeated elections you have renewed your confidence in us. Tonight, I will give some account of our trusteeship. Labor asks you to believe that the country is ruined; that unemployment is rampant; that progress is dead. What is the state of this nation after our period of office...

On December 9, though you will be voting for individual candidates, the end result will be that you choose a Government for the nation. I do not propose to put before you a long list of promises. After 12 years the A.L.P. can easily make a series of brand new offers without saying where the new hundreds of millions are to come from; though they will, of course, come from you. For governments have no money to spend except that which has been earned and paid over, by tax or loan, by the men and...

This is no ordinary election. It comes at a time when the Government has precariously and unexpectedly survived by one vote for two years. It comes at a time when turbulence and international tension exist nearer to our frontiers than ever before except during the last war; when strength is needed in the voice of Australia; when our country cannot afford to compel its Government to spend a lot of time, week by week, on the problem of domestic political survival. Why did I seek a dissolution? I...

Good evening listeners, The Commonwealth Labor Government brings to you, the electors of Australia, an account of its administration during the three years since you returned it to office; a review of how it has sustained the trust you gave to it when the call for national leadership went out in 1941; and its plans for the future, greater Australia. You will recall that in 1941 – after two years of war – the Liberal Party and Country Party coalition Government led by Mr. Menzies came to an...

Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow-citizens of Australia – fifteen months ago, the Menzies-Fadden coalition took over the reins of Australian government. They were full of promises, they raised false hopes – above all they undertook to put value back into the pound. What has happened in 15 months? Every housewife knows we have suffered the most disastrous inflation in Australian history. Every wage and salary earner knows that the value of the pound has fallen to the lowest point in our history...