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More than just a flag : Comments
By George Williams, published 11/4/2008The ACT may have self government but it passes laws that diverge from federal policy at its peril.
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Having Queanbeyan and Canberra are governed by different States is ridiculous. Most people living in Jerrabomberra (a suburb of Queanbeyan) work, shop, and play in Canberra. That they consider themselves to be Canberrans is made even more irksome when the ACT government treats them with disdain by building a prison on its border, right next to Jerrabomberra whose residents don’t vote in the ACT.
The extra layer of government foisted on Canberrans by self government costs significantly and for little return. The road system is falling apart - repairs are of course subject to the same statistical manipulation as applied by any government - the repairs have covered a larger area, but they are made to a lesser standard.
Land-use planning is also affected by the whims of the ACT Government, water used in the ACT is captured and stored in NSW, the public transport system involving NSW and ACT registered businesses makes it impossible to catch a bus from Jerrabomberra to Canberra and hold a full-time job.
Members of the ACT parliament try to act like Ministers but all they achieve is to emulate the perks of office without having understanding of their portfolios. The Chief Minister in Canberra is also the Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Minister for the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Water and Climate Change. Ministers don’t even have the presence of mind to change jackets when they are interviewed for the local TV News, appearing in one story as the sombre-faced Minister for silly walks, and in the very next story the Minster is interviewed in the same place but now he is the ever cheerful Minister for the Yarts.
If the ACT were to be absorbed into NSW a simple local government could easily and cheaply cover the range of responsibilities needed to keep the ACT running as a rural NSW city. Canberrans could get on with running their lives free of the farce that is the ACT Legislative assembly.