Opposition Again
Chifley was now aged 64 and in poor health (like Curtin, he was a lifelong smoker), but he refused to retire from politics. Labor had retained control of the Senate, and Chifley, now Leader of the Opposition, took advantage of this to bring misery to the Menzies government at every turn. Menzies responded by introducing a bill to ban the Communist Party of Australia. He expected Chifley to reject it and give him an excuse to call double dissolution election. Menzies apparently hoped to repeat his "soft-on-Communism" theme to win a majority in both chambers. However, Chifley let the bill pass (it was ultimately thrown out by the High Court). However, when Chifley rejected Menzies' banking bill a few months later, Menzies called a double dissolution resulting in the 1951 election. Although Chifley managed to lead Labor to a five-seat swing in the House, Labor lost six seats in the Senate, giving the Coalition control of both chambers. A few months later and after Chifley's death, Menzies held a 1951 referendum to ban the Communist Party, but this was narrowly defeated.
Read more about this topic: Ben Chifley
Famous quotes containing the word opposition:
“Commitment, by its nature, frees us from ourselves and, while it stands us in opposition to some, it joins us with others similarly committed. Commitment moves us from the mirror trap of the self absorbed with the self to the freedom of a community of shared values.”
—Michael Lewis (late 20th century)
“Husbands and wives generally understand when opposition will be vain.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)