education, transport, justice and the
environment. The separation between
Federal and State responsibilities
has become blurred since Federation
and it has become hard to recognise
the distinct responsibilities. The High
Court's often changing opinions have
made this task even more difficult.
the constitution will have the practical
effect of changing the operation of
to fund local governments directly. It
will give the Federal government a
sufficient head of power to fund local
governments and thus local activities
such as the school chaplaincy
program and other future programs.
It will allow the Federal government
to disregard the states and their
constitutional role by dealing only
with local governments. In other
words this referendum will have the
effect of centralising Australia even
the decentralised states and giving
it to Canberra, all under the guise of
empowering local councils.
barely been explained, Australians
are just expected to vote `yes' on
September 14 as how could anyone
vote against recognising our local
governments? We should however
all be aware that this referendum is
a question that goes to the heart of
the future of this nation's governance.
Do we choose to hand more power
to Canberra, taking even more
responsibility away from the states?
Or in other words do we choose to
hand over decisions that are made
locally about the funding of local
governments by state parliaments
to people who are thousands of
kilometres away in Canberra and have
probably never set foot in the council
in question?
have long term repercussions.