Table of Contents
Sir Henry Parkes, the father of federation, put forward the proposal in his 1889 Tenterfield oration that a ‘Convention of leading men of all the colonies should meet to devise the constitution which would be necessary for bringing into existence a federal government with a federal parliament’. His ambition to have a federal convention was realised and in 1891 a draft Australian constitution was presented to the Colonial Parliaments. Following the Federal Conventions of 1897-1898 and further work, a Constitution was formed that binds together the Commonwealth of Australia today.
Sir Henry and other federal founders were visionary – they envisaged a constitution that would adapt, if necessary, to meet future challenges. We need to stop and ask ourselves what they would do if they were undertaking the task again today because not even Sir Henry Parkes could have imagined the problems that would become apparent in Australia in the 21st century. The Australian public have to a large extent become very cynical about all levels of government. In the recent survey by Griffith University (Gray and Brown, this volume), 74% of NSW respondents expressed clearly that they want a change to the structures of Australia’s governments in the long-term. That cynicism and distrust has increased in recent years because of government actions in a number of areas. People feel disempowered; the vast majority of people expressed a clear opposition to the sale of national icons, such as Telstra, but were ignored.
The current Australian Government has embarked on a centralising program like no other, controlling more and more from Canberra. In the High Court of Australia, we recently saw the spectacle of 35 very expensive lawyers challenging the Australian Government on industrial relations reform, at the behest of State governments, all at massive taxpayer cost (WorkChoices 2006). But they lost.
State governments appear unable to enact any strategy beyond the next election timeframe. We have areas of coastal Australia experiencing massive growth – upward of 7% in some areas of Queensland – with a huge lag in infrastructure to support that growth. The health system in NSW has virtually collapsed with some 2,000 people not seen within the recommended 10 minutes at hospitals when faced with life threatening conditions.
Local government fares no better. Traditionally, local governments tended to focus on, and were mostly responsible for, decisions relating to land use zoning and associated infrastructure requirements. However, over the past decade or more there has been increased engagement by local government, through the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), in the development of national regional development policy. There is also evidence of a steady devolution of responsibility to local government alongside a growing expectation by State and Federal Governments that local shires adopt a more strategic approach to their activities. Despite this, an independent inquiry by Percy Allen, a former head of NSW Treasury, has found that a quarter of the 152 local councils in NSW are like councils in third world countries – starved of funds and unable to perform efficiently.
Many experts and commentators see the current system of government as being in a crisis. I contend it is a crisis. However, with goodwill and commitment we can put the building blocks in place to better inform change where it is underway, and drive new change where it is needed. There are solutions; we just have to find them.