A good start would be to abolish State Govts,amalgamate the Councils and reform all our bureaucracies with the same economic rationalism private enterprise continues to endure.

It won't happen because our Public Service Aristocracies have too much power.Govts come and go,but they grow like a festering sore sapping the life blood from our economies.

Some people really talk tosh, "Westernred" if you believe that there is no debate on what the US constitution say's then I want some of what your on. As for Federalism, I think we should get rid of the Federal Government rather then the states and have a setup like Austria. I'm sick and tried of only every hearing the eastern states mention when our Federal Government talks. Duplication implies that the bodies from the various states come up with the same laws and whatnot. This is not the case states are able and do make different rules and regulations. If we got rid of the state governments then the federal government would be focussed on Sydney and Melbourne and stuff the rest.

Good article. The duplication of services are expensive. Try getting a state health or education minister to take control of their services. University funding is another case in point, especially if they're a dual sector institute. It's a nightmare of audits.

I digress but Howard Government is far more centralist and interventionist in the affairs of the states since any Government since WW2. I sense their frustration with state governments not getting things done. We're still playing the "I blame Canberra versus Canberra blaming the states' game.

I could swear that the states were going to roll back many of their taxes when they received monies from the GST.

I'm not so sure about the last writer re Sydney and Melbourne controlling the show. With the commodities boom, I suggest Perth and Brisbane are doing very well on their own.

I agree we have too much government.
I would scrap the Federal government, give income taxing power to the states.
We would have trade, defence , immigration and anything else that needed to be federal done by a conference of state ministers, in the case of a deadlock we go to a national referendum.
There must still be free trade between the states and national sports teams.
The states would then have to compete with each other for businesses and workers.
Yes thats right governments competing with each other by giving better service to the people.
Any state government that was too hard on workers could lose their workers to other states, any government that was too hard on business would lose business and employment to other states.
I would also make politicians give a quote for their salary on the ballots, so they have to compete for their jobs as well.
If you are a great administrator you could ask for a higher salary, if you are a party hack with no talent you could ask for bugger all.

Federation in 1900 was a good idea. A Federal minister would have needed
a month to attend a meeting in Perth.
Letters would take a similar time although the telegraph was there, but was unsuitable for signatures.
However a hundred years later all is different.
Get rid of the state governments and divide their responsibilities between the commonwealth
and local government.

We would put hundreds of pollies out of work but are they big enough men to do it ?
I doubt it, they would waffle on about how necessary they are to the country.

OK we have an expensive democracy? So what we have a democracy, of sorts.
I've been a centralist, get rid of State Govt. etc. "then along came John" and his idea of central control, hooray I'm cured.
The finally "standard curriculum" who other than a power hungry dedicated "every ones the same in needs" regardless of geography
ambitions and needs.
fluff