Bring on a consititutional convention in 2007

Professor George Williams has described one of the greatest challenges facing Australians who want good government in Australia. He wrote: 'we need to fix our dysfunctional federal system.

Our foundation law, the Australian Constitution, needs to be modernised. It established a system of government that made a lot of sense in the 1890s, but now does not work as it should.
Instead of clear lines of responsibility, our two levels of government often seek credit for successes but blame someone else when faced with failure. In a state like Queensland, the impact is being felt in hospitals and schools. While the money lies in Canberra, the responsibility lies primarily with the state. This mismatch is undermining the quality of these essential services.

The Business Council of Australia has found that our inefficient federal system is costing taxpayers an extra, wasted $9 billion each year. The larger impact on the economy has been estimated at about $20 billion. This shows the cost of having two levels of government in a system that allows administrative duplication and political buck-passing.

This long-term problem is often neglected in the short period between elections. However, it is now so pressing and the consequences so obvious that 2007 should mark the year that Peter Beattie's call for a constitutional convention is taken up.'