Vegemite

Interesting quote. Thankyou. Luckily I think the Ned Kelly´s of Australia are also still alive and well too.

JoanL

They're fun, those spoiled ballot sheets. As scrutineers, we'd try to guess how many Mickey Mouses, Donald Ducks, Jesus Christs, and rude words we'd get! Not many people just put in a blank - most have to try to make a point. They all end up in the same pile though - 'informal votes'.

MelbourneCityRach

Large public bodies tend to be cumbersome and often inefficiently managed - the NHS, or several Dep't Health/Human Services for example?

Australians feel patriotic about their states as well. In fact a healthy competitiveness can improve gov't service - in Victoria and NSW for examples the respective Workcover Authorities constantly strive to improve upon each others premiums and return to work rates.

I realise I've just quoted from page one and now am completely out of context in this thread but it caught my eye and had to be done

Wol

NSW has the most incompetent and corrupt administration I've ever seen. The state is collapsing. Four or more councils have been sacked and are under administration by managers. Several are in courts because the've lost tens of millions of ratepayers' money.

Bring on federal government, I say. Oh wait - that'll be Kevin...........

MartinLuther

As I previously said....

... thanks Wol, for highlighting why we shouldn't get rid of the states

Vash the Stampede

At any rate, Australia certainly isn't the most over-governed nation on earth. The original article makes this claim, but presents no evidence to substantiate it. The author just doesn't like the state system, that's all.

Most modern Western nations have three tiers of government, including Canada and the Netherlands.

The UK is arguably one of the most over-governed nations, with widespread duplication as a result of devolution; she has three parliaments, two assemblies, monarch, a prime minister, House of Commons, House of Lords (unelected) and two additional de facto prime ministers (to name just a few parts of the bureaucratic behemoth). Even local government is ordered differently across England, NI, Scotland and Wales; there's no consistency.

If the author of the article thinks we're over-governed, what does he make of the USA (3 tiers of government, just like Australia) and UK (multiple tiers of government across four different countries, with little consistency between them)?

JoanL

I still can't make my mind up about the State system. I understand how we came to have separate States, and how it used to be necessary anyway because of the huge distances.

But things are different now, with teleconferencing, the net, air travel, and all the forms of mass communication.

Still, a State government is, or can be a buffer against a bad Federal government, and vice versa. And States really ARE different from each other, with different demographics, climate, types of industry etc.

Anyway, too late to unscamble that particular egg, I think. We're stuck with States. The best we can hope for is that duplications are reduced.

MartinLuther

Before dismissing the state system it is also worth considering why the UK has been moving towards a similar structure over the last decade (with its teleconferencing, etc...) and shorter distances.