The sixteenth Parliament was elected in May, 1907, but none of the three parties, into which the Assembly was divided by the cleavage between the moderate and the extreme sections of the Labour party consequent upon the adoption by the latter of the socialistic objective at the Convention held earlier in the year at Rockhampton, came back with a majority, and little legislation was found possible, the only public Acts passed relating to Appropriations, Children's Courts, Poor Prisoners' Defence, and an amending Income Tax measure raising the exemption to L200, and giving other relief to taxpayers. Towards the end of November the Government, failing to pass several democratic measures through the Council and to obtain adequate support from the Labour party, resigned, and Parliament was dissolved on 31st December on the advice of Mr. Philp, who had been called on to form a new Government from the Opposition party, and had failed to secure a parliamentary majority. THE SEVENTEENTH PARLIAMENT: 3rd March, 1908-31st August, 1909. The result of the appeal to the constituencies was to leave parties much as before, the Kidston and Labour parties being slightly strengthened numerically, and the Philp party--the Government at the moment--weakened correspondingly, they and the Kidston party numbering 25 each, while the Labour party were 22 strong. Mr. Philp's appeal having thus failed, he retired, and Mr. Kidston, being recalled, sought to secure for his Government more than casual support from the Labour party. The House met on 3rd March, 1908. The session lasted barely seven weeks, and among the fifteen measures which became law were the following:--An amending Constitution Bill repealing the provisoes to section 9 of the principal Act, the first of which required a two-thirds vote of both Houses to any amendment for varying the mode of appointment or number of members of the Legislative Council; and the second, that any such amending bill should not receive the Royal assent until it had lain thirty days on the table of both Houses of the Imperial Parliament. Another Constitution Bill provided for a referendum to the electors when a bill passed by the Assembly had been twice rejected by the Council. The first of the above-mentioned bills received the Governor's assent forthwith, but as to the second such assent was reserved, and the bill transmitted to England. On 19th August, however, the King's assent was proclaimed, and the incompatibilities between the two Houses were thus satisfactorily adjusted by a comparatively simple process. A measure which aroused strong party feeling was a bill to amend the Elections Act by repealing the postal voting sections, substituting provisions to enable absent voters to vote at any polling place in the State, and also ensuring greater secrecy by having the ballot papers from places where a small number of votes are recorded counted in some larger centre.