IS IT TIME TO REVAMP THE SYSTEM OF GOVENMENT IN AUSTRALIA ????

We are all bleating about the cost of living and being told how Australia can’t compete in the global market because our wages are too high etc. Well folks, the answer is right in front of us and it’s about time we challenged a few things in Australia.

Australia is being run with a system of three Levels of Government (ie Federal, State and Local). I can't help but think that this system is so outdated and inefficient in the 21st century. It really comes back to our colonial past and Federation in 1901 when communication was poor and large distances meant a different model of government was needed.

For example, why does each state need its own police department? Doing so means that each state duplicates the effort in other states (writing similar but slightly different laws, different uniforms, IT support, clerical support, purchasing etc). Why can’t we just have one Australia wide police force that has a central command centre with regional offices (similar to the Defence Forces)? This would create a whole lot of efficiencies and cost savings. If this concept was included to cover the multitude of other state government departments - education, justice, transport, etc, imagine the savings Australia wide.

As a rough guess, I reckon we could save about 30-50 Billion dollars per year. Sure, there would be job losses, but the tax liability we all have to bear to prop up this very inefficient system of government could drop significantly. That would take pressure off ordinary people and their need to gain higher wages, which in turn would allow industry to compete globally and create more employment (have you had a good look at what is being made in Australia these days ??) We could all work less hours perhaps for no loss in take home pay (due to huge tax cuts) and someone else could share the same job with you. Companies could also pay less tax (federal, state and local too) which increases their ability to compete globally.

Why stop there, lets have a good look at removing one level of government (why not kill off State Governments and increase the size and responsibility of local governments as a possibility?) How many times have we heard the same tired old excuse on Health? The federal and state governments blame each other for a crappy health system that is failing us all.

Think about the benefits to a multitude of workers too (can you picture a solicitor near a state border, he has to know two lots of state law etc) Once we sort out the current mess, why don’t we get to work on local councils and bring them into a common platform too (once again, the builders would not need to know 3-5 sets of laws from different councils for example.)

Obviously, this concept would need to be studied and introduced over a number of years.

I could go on and on, but if I get enough people thinking, maybe, just maybe we can do something.