nk Chaffey and other prominent members of the state opposition, were against increased federal powers and met the same fate. p> E.G. Theodore was premier of Queensland, and also was on the no side, only to have his state vote yes. Scullin, Latham, W.M. Hughes, Frank Brennan and Dr Maloney were all on the losing side. p> If anyone wants to study the referendum device to prove just how unpredictable public opinion can be, and how difficult it is to carry a referendum, this vote provides a classic study. I have opposed every referendum since the first conscription referendum. Although the Labor platform provided for unification, I was always a federalist. I believed that the sovereign states had very real functions. The Commonwealth was always trying to filch them. p> The state of New South Wales was always in the vanguard of social reform. We were many steps ahead of the other states. Many of the referenda were inspired by the hope of taking over control of our affairs, in order to deprive the people of this state of hard-won gains. That was precisely why Bruce introduced his referendum proposals in June 1926. p> My government had passed a 44-Hour Week Act, which provided for a working day of eight hours, and a 51/2 day week. Instead of leaving the question to the courts, we had introduced it by legislation. The Tories were hostile. They said we were ruining the state. Industries would transfer to other states. We also introduced compulsory workers 'compensation, a new factories act, the widows' pension and had motherhood endowment ready for Parliament. The Tories were in a panic. p> Bruce had just swept the country in his law-and-order election and believed that he had a mandate to deal with the trade unions. The Crimes Act had been the first step only. He wanted to introduce compulsory ballots for trade unions. He also wanted power to bolster up the Crimes Act. There were still grave doubts as to whether it was constitutional. p> In the 44-Hour Act, we inserted a provision that it applied to all workers within the state, whether they worked under federal or state awards. The employers, through the Clyde Engineering Company, Lever Bros and Metters, took the case to the High Court. It is known in the law books as the Cowburn and Amalgamated Engineers 'Union case. By four to two the High Court ruled that federal awards prevailed over all state awards, as did federal laws over state where the Commonwealth has jurisdiction. p> Chief Justice Sir Adrian Knox, Sir Isaac Isaacs, and Justices Rich and Starke upheld the federal power. Messrs Justices Higgins and Powers, both well versed in industrial law, had the opposite viewpoint. p> After studying the judgment, the Bruce-Page Cabinet decided they could stymie the 44-hour week right away if they could obtain full power over industrial matters for the Commonwealth. Only New South Wales and Queensland had the +44-hour week. p> They appointed a Commonwealth Arbitration Court of three judges - Chief Justice Lukin, and Justices Dethridge and Beeby. They were given appointments for life at ВЈ 2500 a year. The next move was to get the question of hours and wages transferred to their court. p> Bruce and his Attorney-General, J.G. Latham, decided that the time was opportune for a referendum to increase Commonwealth powers. One of their problems was that a Nationalist Party conference in 1923 had voted in favor of limiting Commonwealth powers and transferring them back to the states. But that didn't worry Bruce. He had just obtained a fresh mandate. Most of the states had returned Labor governments. In a speech to a select gathering at the Hotel Australia, presided over by Sir Owen Cox, Bruce, shortly after he had become Prime Minister, had suggested what was really needed in this country was a "dictatorship of six of the best brains of the land ". p> Bruce knew that the Federal Labor Party had always favored unification. Fisher had put a referendum to the people in 1911 and 1913, which had suggested alterations to the constitution giving the federal government absolute power over all industrial problems, trusts and monopolies and other items in the Labor platform. They had been rejected on both occasions, with New South Wales leading the opposition. Hughes tried again in 1919 with proposals covering trade and commerce, as well as arbitration, together with power to nationalise monopolies. Again the Australian people had turned their thumbs down and nowhere more emphatically than in this state. p> Bruce's trump card was to invite Charlton and the federal Labor Party to confer with him on proposals which they could jointly submit to the people. The Federal Caucus referred the suggestion to the state branches of the ALP. Three states were in favor of collaboration while three were against. Again New South Wales opposed the suggestion. Charlton then decided that he would go ahead. p> Bruce's chief proposition wa...
