An unprecedented situation has been created in Tasmania by the
action of the Governor, Sir W. Ellison-Macartney. The Liberals bad been defeated in the Legislature early in the year by the transference of one vote to the Labour Party in an equally divided House, and Mr. Solomon, the Liberal Premier, asked the Governor for a Dissolution. Sir W. Ellison- Macartney refused, and called upon Mr. Earle, the Labour leader, to form a Ministry, but imposed, amongst othercon- ditions, that of an immediate Dissolution. Mr. Earle protested in vain, both before and after accepting office, and on meeting Parliament laid the correspondence before the 'House, which, with one dissentient voice, censured the Governor and lodged an appeal with the Colonial Office. The history of responsible government in Australia establishes the right of Governors to refuse or grant a Dissolution. But there is no precedent for insisting on a Dissolution against the wish both of their advisers and of Parliament. Whatever the Governor's Constitutional rights may be, he surely would have been wiser to act as custom prescribed.
Previous page
