Do Australians deserve better government - the way we are governed?
We need leaders with a vision for Australia to show the way forward. Centralist state governments by the nature of their legislative processes and traditional mindsets, offer little opportunity for regional diversity where local innovation and flare are what's called for. That's because state laws and regulations are generally so prescriptive.
Yet where uniform Australian standards not only make sence, but are blindingly obvious, common sense is nearly always the first casualty. The plethora of differing state laws and regulations cause needless grief, particularly to the interstate traveller or national business. Jim Snow has provided the following examples in a paper he gave to 'Beyond Federation' in 2003:
- A child moving from one state to another should not be upset and discouraged by quite different education standards.
- A child moving from Victoria to Queensland might expect to cope with local emphases on environmental or workplace requirements but should not have to be bored with English already covered and distressed by Mathematics for which there has been no introduction.
- A cancer patient visiting relatives in Canberra should not have to be distressed and horribly inconvenienced by the refusal of a pharmacist to supply medicine on the prescription of a NSW Doctor.
- A Doctor from South Africa accepted for practice in a Victorian town on the Murray should not be barred from practicing in a NSW hospital which lacks a Doctor and is just over the river.
- When an accused law-breaker is not extradited for trial because of state differences there are delays in justice, further crimes can be perpetrated and lives threatened. When a criminal has fled interstate there can be long delays in extradition.
Those examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Federal Minister Tony Abbott suggested that States should be cut out as funding agents for schools, hospitals and public services. He has listed a multitude of problem areas where State administration is unnecessary, costly or unfair:
- Health
- Adoption
- Drug control
- Food standards
- Doctor, pharmacy and nurse registration
- Forestry
- Railways – travel and freight transport and different systems
- Road transport
- Driver Licences
- School starting ages
- Basic school curriculums
- Professional and technical requirements
- Consumer protection and labelling
- Safety standards
- Flora and fauna
- Industrial law
- Company law
- Partnership
- Probate
- Aviation
Jim Snow has stated in a recent posting to the Beyond Federation' group, that local government is essential in any rationalisation of government.
He said: ' local government cannot expect to be fair, efficient, just and equitable unless it is also powerful. For that reason we must consider alternatives that would entrench local government power in the national structure.
My own view is that the Senate can be the vehicle for that power with the present decision making arrangements. A whole range of options could be available.
(Option) 1. Senate electorates to be the regions or groups of local government councils with an assembly for each region or group.
(Option) 2. Estimates committee responsibilities would be transferred to House of Representatives.
(Option) 3. Senators would be elected to both the Senate and a regional assembly at the time of local government elections - that is as members of both levels of government. Their appointments would be in addition to local councillors or regional representatives.
This would require constituional change and the imptus would have to come from the people for it would weaken political parties and factions.
It would give geograhic areas the effective power of review originally intended for the senate. I have over-summarised my idea for the sake of simplicity but believe that a range of variations would all work.'
I hope more of our federal politicians can be convinced to overcome the defeatest attitude that constitutional change is ' too hard'.
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