In conclusion, let me leave you with a thought. Right now, most federations are working towards subsidiarity—shifting the focus of government decision making to a more local level. Globally, Australia is an exception to that rule: rather than becoming more localised, we are becoming more centralised.
The new Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Robert French, characterised the trend somewhat fatalistically in a speech in August 2008 when he said:
Despite the benefits of co-operative federalism the wide range of its application may have an overall tendency to define as national that which was once local. A shrinking federation will continue to shrink. The logical outcome is the singular state of a unitary federation. That is the federation you have when you do not have a federation.
It is in our national interest to resist a slide into a ‘Clayton’s’ federation—because cooperative federalism is the system best able to juggle the competing global and local demands of the future.
The challenge ahead of us is not to make federalism work—but work better.
Over the past nine months we have seen what can be achieved through cooperative federalism, with the states and the Commonwealth working together to:
target elective surgery waiting times
create a seamless national economy
secure a historic agreement on the Murray-Darling Basin
close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
draw up a new model for federal financial relations
agree to a common framework for education reform
establish the building blocks of an emissions trading scheme.
The new actions I have suggested here propose an even broader vision for cooperative federalism, with the prospect of further real and tangible gains for the nation. At this time of economic, social and environmental challenges, we need to take the next step and ensure that the performance of our federation is up there with the very best in the world.