Abolish state governments

[Gspot]

Here's something that bugs me more than anything else.

In 1901 our national government was established. Six seperate British colonies became Australian states. Now this may have been alright in the 19th century, when communication and transport was different, but having this same colonial thinking system today is clumsy and way too expensive.
There is duplication for running our multiplicity of parliaments, a massive overload of bureaucrats, a tangle of conflicting laws, rail gauges, titles of land, lease holds and opportunities for euthanasia to name a few.It costs the nation more than $35 billion a year to maintain the state governments and it can be argued these governments are beyond their use-by dates and are inefficient in their duplication of services to the people.

We are thinking of removing the Crown from government; why not think about removing all the states and territories at the same time?


Develop a two-tiered system of governance, within one national constitution, and as a nation we will save about $30 billion a year. Eliminate the duplication of services by defining duties and responsibilities, within the constitution, for the national and regional governments. This will empower the people at regional level and fracture the power of the political parties, thereby bringing governance closer to the people. We are entitled to be governed by world best practices and we are not.

<www.abolishstategovernments.com>

 

[KIWIKARLOS]

Why dont we do away with local government while your at it, perhaps we should take it one step futher and have only one party, that would be great we would never have to vote.

Then all we have to do is change our name to China Jnr, transformation complete.

I agree with taking some state powers and making them federal such as power, water etc but there is still a place for state governments. Is there any democratic countries in the world that have only a federal system?

 

[Sprinter79]

Nah, i just think WA should just secede from the rest of Australia. Now, that would stuff ya!!!!

 

[Gspot]

Why dont we do away with local government while your at it, perhaps we should take it one step futher and have only one party, that would be great we would never have to vote.

Then all we have to do is change our name to China Jnr, transformation complete.

I agree with taking some state powers and making them federal such as power, water etc but there is still a place for state governments. Is there any democratic countries in the world that have only a federal system?

We would abolish local governments too, as they are amatuer, incompetent, and rife with petty corruption in it's administration of land zoning and developmental approvals.
With 30 something new Regional governments(2nd tier) being on a larger scale, and set up with new powers, could bring a new professionalism to this government.

 

[greggy]

Here's something that bugs me more than anything else.

In 1901 our national government was established. Six seperate British colonies became Australian states. Now this may have been alright in the 19th century, when communication and transport was different, but having this same colonial thinking system today is clumsy and way too expensive.
There is duplication for running our multiplicity of parliaments, a massive overload of bureaucrats, a tangle of conflicting laws, rail gauges, titles of land, lease holds and opportunities for euthanasia to name a few.It costs the nation more than $35 billion a year to maintain the state governments and it can be argued these governments are beyond their use-by dates and are inefficient in their duplication of services to the people.

We are thinking of removing the Crown from government; why not think about removing all the states and territories at the same time?


Develop a two-tiered system of governance, within one national constitution, and as a nation we will save about $30 billion a year. Eliminate the duplication of services by defining duties and responsibilities, within the constitution, for the national and regional governments. This will empower the people at regional level and fracture the power of the political parties, thereby bringing governance closer to the people. We are entitled to be governed by world best practices and we are not.

<www.abolishstategovernments.com>

Interesting theory. I remember Jeff Kennett, a former Liberal State Premier, proposing the same thing. My only worry would be that too much power may end up being in the hands of the federal government.
Providing your figures are accurate a $30 billion saving on an annual basis is massive indeed. With that sort of money, more hospitals and schools could be built, major infrastructure projects would be able to be paid for in cash, not debt, the list goes on and on.

 

[Broadside]

At the moment states point the blame for problems in education, healthcare, water infrastructure, etc at the Feds....and vice versa.....I would be all for abolishing the state govts, they really add no value whatsoever. It will never happen. But if there was ever a referendum I couldn't tick the yes box fast enough.

 

[Uncle Festivus]

I think it's a good idea. There are good arguments for nationalizing things such as health care, education, law enforcement, environmental and transport laws, regulations & standards.
The main reasons for doing so is uniformity & conformity while eliminating bureaucratic duplication & expense.

We should amalgamate local councils too while we're at it.

 

[Gspot]

Interesting theory. I remember Jeff Kennett, a former Liberal State Premier, proposing the same thing. My only worry would be that too much power may end up being in the hands of the federal government.
Providing your figures are accurate a $30 billion saving on an annual basis is massive indeed. With that sort of money, more hospitals and schools could be built, major infrastructure projects would be able to be paid for in cash, not debt, the list goes on and on.

Correct.
However, you must get rid of this colonial thinking of too much power to federal government. The states boundaries were drawn in the sand some 100 odd years ago. They do little to support the Pilbara from Perth, Nth Queensland from Brisbane or Gippsland from Melbourne. We could set up regions defined by climate, geography, population concentration, industry and other factors which affect our lives.

 

[Mousie]

I think it's a good idea. There are good arguments for nationalizing things such as health care, education, law enforcement, environmental and transport laws, regulations & standards.
The main reasons for doing so is uniformity & conformity while eliminating bureaucratic duplication & expense.

We should amalgamate local councils too while we're at it.

Rules/laws/taxes that make sense should be nationalised
Too many crap laws/legislations enacted caused by a minority few in any one particular state already

Services should be privatised
Inefficient healthcare and education is brought about by big goverment not being able to take care of everything at once

That should do it in a nutshell IMO

 

[Kauri]

Correct.
However, you must get rid of this colonial thinking of too much power to federal government. The states boundaries were drawn in the sand some 100 odd years ago. They do little to support the Pilbara from Perth, Nth Queensland from Brisbane or Gippsland from Melbourne. We could set up regions defined by climate, geography, population concentration, industry and other factors which affect our lives.

By abolishing State Govt's. Fed govt. would do little to support the Pilbara from Canberra, Nth. Queensland from Canberra, or Gippsland from Canberra. Keep the State Govts. and get rid of the Feds>>>

 

[Gspot]

By abolishing State Govt's. Fed govt. would do little to support the Pilbara from Canberra, Nth. Queensland from Canberra, or Gippsland from Canberra. Keep the State Govts. and get rid of the Feds>>>

No, but the Regional governments set up in these areas would.

 

[chops_a_must]

No, but the Regional governments set up in these areas would.

So we abolish state and local governments only to set up "regional governments"? Lol.

 

[Sprinter79]

So we abolish state and local governments only to set up "regional governments"? Lol.

ZING!!!!!!

 

[greggy]

Correct.
However, you must get rid of this colonial thinking of too much power to federal government. The states boundaries were drawn in the sand some 100 odd years ago. They do little to support the Pilbara from Perth, Nth Queensland from Brisbane or Gippsland from Melbourne. We could set up regions defined by climate, geography, population concentration, industry and other factors which affect our lives.

Its not colonial thinking at all. Many people would be worried at the prospect of too much federal power. Also, a number of the states might try to secede. The first one would probably be WA where the secessionist movement was once quite strong. Why try to change things now when Australia isn't doing too badly with the way things are? Yes, the savings may look promising, but there again governments at each level can already cut down on waste if they really wanted to.

 

[Kimosabi]

Imagine what trouble we would be in if we had Federal Liberal Upper and Lower house majority like we do now, but also had State Liberal Upper and Lower Houses Majority's or the opposite with Labour.

What's amazing about the current system, is it alway's seem to balance itself out so that one side of politics doesn't get too much power if they sway to far to either the right or left side of politics.

I suspect we may wind up with a Labour Lower House, but a Liberal Upper house at the next election. I don't think Australia is quite ready to trust Labour with a majority of both houses yet, or the Liberal's will keep the Lower House but lose the senate.

I think the Liberals have moved away from the centre since they have had majorities in both the upper and lower houses during their Current Term of Government.

Generally, whichever party stays in the centre best will win/retain government. This is a great system of government because we have minimized the reduced the risk of getting either a Dictator or Socialist government running the country, unless things go really crazy.

 

[greggy]

Imagine what trouble we would be in if we had Federal Liberal Upper and Lower house majority like we do now, but also had State Liberal Upper and Lower Houses Majority's or the opposite with Labour.

What's amazing about the current system, is it alway's seem to balance itself out so that one side of politics doesn't get too much power if they sway to far to either the right or left side of politics.

I suspect we may wind up with a Labour Lower House, but a Liberal Upper house at the next election. I don't think Australia is quite ready to trust Labour with a majority of both houses yet, or the Liberal's will keep the Lower House but lose the senate.

I think the Liberals have moved away from the centre since they have had majorities in both the upper and lower houses during their Current Term of Government.

Generally, whichever party stays in the centre best will win/retain government. This is a great system of government because we have minimized the reduced the risk of getting either a Dictator or Socialist government running the country, unless things go really crazy.

Well said Kimosabi. I reckon its an asset having different parties in control at different levels of government. I prefer it at the federal level when no party has control of both houses. To remove a layer of government would also increase the federal government's power.

 

[Gspot]

Well said Kimosabi. I reckon its an asset having different parties in control at different levels of government. I prefer it at the federal level when no party has control of both houses. To remove a layer of government would also increase the federal government's power.

LOL. So we need 1 Federal, 6 State and2 Territoriitory Governments all with their own education, health dept etc. Add to this 750 Local councils, plus committee's, all for a population under 20 million. And if we try to rationalise, where politician are then held accountable and can't blame one another, we become a communist country.
With all this waste of money, at the end of the day what do we get...Liberal or Labor? Yeah great democracy. And when you say too much power to Federal government with representatives in each Regional government...TO MUCH POWER TOO WHAT? GOVERN OUR COUNTRY! Yeah great again....much better for two different governments to fight and bicker and finger point and look after themselves while nothing happens about water, salinity, health etc.
But hey, compared to Zimbabwe, we have a great system.

 

[marklar]

The grand scheme to abolish the states is good, there is a massive amount of duplication and buck-passing going on, particuarly with Labor states and Liberal federally. You'll still need a local council to deal with parking and waste collection (could you imagine dealing with DoTaRS for a parking fine?) one only has to look at the ACT to see how appalling things can get without local councils.

Health and Education in this country are both stuffed due to the ineptitude of state governments and lack of accountability at the federal level.

m.

 

[mark70920]

LOL. So we need 1 Federal, 6 State and2 Territoriitory Governments all with their own education, health dept etc. Add to this 750 Local councils, plus committee's, all for a population under 20 million. And if we try to rationalise, where politician are then held accountable and can't blame one another, we become a communist country.
With all this waste of money, at the end of the day what do we get...Liberal or Labor? Yeah great democracy. And when you say too much power to Federal government with representatives in each Regional government...TO MUCH POWER TOO WHAT? GOVERN OUR COUNTRY! Yeah great again....much better for two different governments to fight and bicker and finger point and look after themselves while nothing happens about water, salinity, health etc.
But hey, compared to Zimbabwe, we have a great system.

Yes with Little Johnnie controlling both house and no State governments all the power in the country would effectively be in one mans hands (as it is in Zimbabwe) Sydney would be the new Capital and the rest of the country would get shat on. Australia is one of the most stable democracy in the world , I think the founding Fathers knew what they were doing. Its worth paying for.

 

[Smurf1976]

Services should be privatised
Inefficient healthcare and education is brought about by big goverment not being able to take care of everything at once

It might work as long as it's a genuine privatisation and not simply private hospitals receiving taxpayer funds. I've yet to see a single example of a government service being outsourced but still paid for by taxpayer funds without a major rise in cost and/or reduction in quality.