Federalism and Regionalism in Australia
New Approaches, New Institutions?
Table of Contents
Preliminary Pages
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Part 1. Setting the Scene: Old Questions or New?
Chapter 1. Introduction
The symposium
Part 1: Setting the scene
Part 2: Drivers for change
Part 3: New institutions?
Chapter 2. Federalism, Regionalism and the Reshaping of Australian Governance
Introduction
Ships in the night? ‘State-regionalism’ and ‘region-regionalism’
Why is regionalism a federal issue? Some facts
Conclusions: five lessons for contemporary institutional design
References
Chapter 3. The Political Viability of Federal Reform: Interpreting Public Attitudes
Introduction
Idle speculation or a more general query? Federalism and public opinion in Queensland and NSW
Looking for differences: what determines citizens’ interest in change?
In conclusion: a new window on the feasibility of reform
References
Part 2. Drivers for Change: New Approaches to Federalism and Regionalism
Chapter 4. Towards a Wider Debate on Federal and Regional Governance: The Rural Dimension
Introduction
Rural Australia and the need for reform
Investing in rural sustainability
Towards a wider debate on regional governance
References
Chapter 5. Rescuing Urban Regions: The Federal Agenda
An urban nation in denial
Two conclusions about the Commonwealth’s urban interests
The prospects for Commonwealth urban policy
Towards a new urban regionalism?
References
Chapter 6. The Challenge of Coastal Governance
Introduction
Growth pressures on coastal communities
Coastal governance: a dysfunctional system?
A way forward?
References
Chapter 7. Adaptive Governance: The Challenge for Regional Natural Resource Management
Introduction
Sustainability: an evolving policy concept
Addressing sustainability: through a natural resource management lens
Governance for natural resource management
NRM Governance in Australia: a complex federal system
The way forward: a question of adaptive capacity?
References
Chapter 8. Regionalism and Economic Development: Achieving an Efficient Framework
Introduction
Regional development in Australia: small scale, fragmented and non-metropolitan
Regional policies? Mismatch in the scale of delivery and the scale of need in responding to job losses in the automotive industry
Conclusion: can Australia achieve an efficient framework for regional development?
References
Chapter 9. Reconceiving Federal-State-Regional Arrangements in Health
Introduction
Principles for more effective governance
New approaches in health policy and services
The new regional level in health: new institutions?
Conclusions: systemic reform or
ad hocracy
?
References
Part 3. New Institutions? Approaching the Challenge of Reform
Chapter 10. Taking Subsidiarity Seriously: What Role for the States?
Introduction
Perspectives
Solutions: incremental or radical?
Subsidiarity revisited
Regional approaches
Institutionalising cooperative federalism
Conclusions
References
Chapter 11. How Local Government Can Save Australia’s Federal System
Introduction
Local government and federalism: a need for change
Strengthening regional governance: empowering local government
A national reform agenda for local government
Conclusion: reconfiguring the federation
References
Chapter 12. Reforming Australian Governance: Old States, No States or New States?
Introduction
The historical context
The regionalism trail
Towards new thinking on regions: recognising federal centralism
Components of an effective federal-regional response
Conclusion: identifying some models
References
Chapter 13. Quantifying the Costs and Benefits of Change: Towards A Methodology
Introduction
Insights from fiscal federalism literature
Insights from local government amalgamation literature
Previous attempts at evaluating net benefits of change
Conclusion: towards a sound evaluation framework
References
Chapter 14. Where To From Here? Principles for a New Debate
Appendix - Reform of Australia’s Federal System: Identifying the Benefits
List of Figures
Figure 2.1. Australian Area Consultative Committees (2004-2005)
Figure 2.2. Federal, state and local government ‘own purpose’ outlays as a share of total public outlays (2000-01)
Figure 2.3. How The Original 13 U.S. Colonies Became 25 States
Figure 2.4. Australia as 31 Provinces (Australian Labor Party, 1920)
Figure 2.5. For A Bigger Australia
Figure 3.7, Preferred federal systems (Queensland and New South Wales)
Figure 3.9. Preferred federal systems, by major regions (NSW)
Figure 3.19. Preferred federal systems by employment (NSW)
Figure 3.21. Preferred federal systems by civic engagement (NSW)
Figure 7.2. NRM governance – a complex multi-layered and polycentric system
Figure 9.2. What should a Commonwealth funded Public Health System look like?
List of Tables
Table 3.1. Satisfaction with democracy (Australia, Queensland, NSW)
Table 3.2. Satisfaction with federalism (Queensland, NSW)
Table 3.3. Most faith and confidence in a level of government (NSW)
Table 3.4. Performance of different levels of government (NSW)
Table 3.5. Performance of state government, by extremes of satisfaction with the federal system (NSW)
Table 3.6. Expected and preferred federal systems (Queensland 2001 and New South Wales 2005)
Table 3.8. Performance of state government, by preferred scenario (NSW)
Table 3.10. Attitudes to three-tier system by gender (NSW) (number of respondents)
Table 3.11: Attitudes to three-tier system by period of residence at current place of living (NSW) (% and number of respondents)
Table 3.12: Attitudes to three-tier system by level of completed education (NSW) (number of respondents)
Table 3.13: Attitudes to three-tier system by rural/urban place of residence (NSW) (number of respondents)
Table 3.14: Attitudes to three-tier system by age (NSW) (number of respondents)
Table 3.15: Support for ‘regional’ options by gender (NSW) (per cent of respondents)
Table 3.16: Support for ‘regional’ options by level of education (NSW) (per cent of respondents)
Table 3.17: Support for ‘regional’ options by age (NSW) (per cent of respondents)
Table 3.18: Support for ‘regional’ options by employment (NSW) (per cent and number of respondents)
Table 3.20: Support for ‘regional’ options by civic engagement (NSW) (per cent and number of respondents)
Table 4.1. Unemployment Rates
Table 5.1. Federal Involvement in the Cities since World War Two – A Select Summary
Table 7.1. Typical division of responsibilities for natural resource management in Australia
Table 8.1: Grants Awarded under the Structural Adjustment Fund
Table 9.1. Matching Whole-of-Government Structures to Different Tasks
Table 12.1. Criteria for Roles and Responsibilities