“You are deciding on some of the most practical and important changes to our system of government I have seen in my lifetime,” Dr A J Brown told delegates.
A senior lecturer at the Griffith University Law School, Dr Brown said that we need to hone in on the problem we are trying to fix and the benefits that will result from constitutional recognition.
“The omission of Local Government in our Constitution means our Federal system is not as good as it could be or should be,” he said. “It would enable the Federal Government to devolve more power and resources back to local communities and regions.”
He pointed to a national Newspoll survey in May 2008 that found that 86 per cent of respondents (1201 stratified, random sample) believed that our Federal system of government was not working well.
Some 30.5 per cent said that we should do away with the State Governments but slightly more (33 per cent) would drop off Local Government.
State by State there were some marked differences in the survey results, with Local Government least popular in the two most populated States – New South Wales and Victoria. With the other four States all recording at least a 55 per cent approval rating, this points to being successful in achieving a majority of voters in a majority of States. But with New South Wales and Victoria both falling below 50 per cent, it could translate into a problem in gaining the required overall majority of voters.
However the survey found that over 70 per cent of people were in favour of Constitutional recognition of Local Government when its roles and accountability are spelled out and where improved funding would result.
A full report on this survey is available on the ALGA website at www.alga.asn.au
