Beyond Federation – Alternative Models of Government
As we draw closer to the federal election, all sorts of political groups are lobbying furiously for their concerns to take centre stage on the national political agenda. But some groups aren’t lobbying about education or health – at least not directly. Instead, they’re questioning Australia’s very model of democracy and governmental organization. For ten years, Beyond Federation has been advocating plans to abolish the state level of government in Australia. They claim that Australia is currently over governed and that abolishing the states would rectify existing legislative inconsistencies across the country. They also argue that the move would prevent “blame shifting” between federal and state governments on important issues such as health and education where legislative responsibility is currently split between both tiers of government. Ben Byrne spoke to Beyond Federation’s John August.