Сочинение: Reforming government in Australia
Merging the two houses would substantially reduce the cost of government, and remove obstacles and gridlock in government.
Government in Australia has become more chaotic and less decisive because of the incongruities of the two-chamber system. While this has had some more or less accidental benefits, such as the blocking of the sale of Telstra, it is becoming increasingly anachronistic.
The upper houses, in the states and the commonwealth, were originally bastions of reaction. But, due to democratic reforms, largely the introduction of elected members and in some states proportional representation, some of them have, paradoxically, become arenas in which previously excluded minorities get some representation.
This has a certain desirability as a useful control and modification on an essentially two-party system, but the existence of two separate houses makes the process of government erratic and problematic and often results in gridlock.
A desirable and sensible resolution of all these problems would be to merge the two houses of parliament in the states and the Commonwealth. In the states the electoral principle should be two-thirds of the members elected by the preferential system in individual electorates and one third by the proportional representation system that prevails in the NSW upper house.
When this change is made, the number of politicians in each state could be trimmed back a bit for cost reasons. A combination of individual electorates, with a third elected under PR would tend to preserve the major Labor/Conservative division, while giving smaller groups reasonable representation.
All the negotiations for coalitions etc would have to take place in the one house of parliament, providing greater governmental stability. The same method of election should prevail for a one-chamber Commonwealth parliament, also reducing the numbers a bit, with the difference that a PR component should be elected state by state, as the Senate is now elected.
The elimination of the bureaucracy for two chambers in each parliament, and a modest reduction in representatives, would enable lower costs of government. It is quite important to present the above position as a merger of the two houses of parliament, rather than the abolition of the upper house. The merger of the two houses is much more likely to be accepted by the electorate than the abolition of upper houses.
Local government
Local government is perhaps the most important sphere of government because it is closest to the people. Nevertheless, it's perceived to be in a deep-rooted state of crisis.
The Kennett government in Victoria tried to resolve this crisis in an essentially undemocratic way by amalgamations of municipalities into very large bodies, but introducing a first-past-the-post voting system, which allows no checks and balances.
Anotherapproachisrequired, andI'llmake thatconcrete byadvancinga proposalforthe reorganisationoflocalgovernmentinthe CountyofCumberlandarea, the Sydneybasin. The broadprinciplesinthisproposalcouldbe usedinallthe majorAustralianstate capitals.
The firstissue isthe roughsize ofmunicipalities. Sydneynowhasa weirdpatchworkofmunicipalitiesintermsofpopulation. A number, suchasthe CityofSydney, ConcordandHuntersHill, have tinyresidentvotingpopulations, around 10,000 people, while othermunicipalitiessuchasFairfield, Holroyd, Liverpoolandthe SutherlandShire have between 100,000 and 200,000 voters, with, however, roughlythe same numberofaldermenasthe municipalitieswith 10,000.
Thishascome aboutbecause municipalreorganisationhasnotkeptpace withthe growthofthe populationofthe cityregion, andhasbeenoverlyinfluencedbyepisodicinterventionsbystate governmentsforshort-termpoliticaladvantage, the worstexample ofwhichisthe periodicredrawingofthe boundariesofthe CityofSydneyona completelyadhocbasisto keepone oranotherpoliticalpartyinoroutofpower.
The presentCityofSydney, SouthSydneyandBotany, pluspartofLeichhardt, Marrickville andWoolahra municipalities, shouldbe amalgamatedto produce a majorCityofSydney, whichwouldadministerthe CBD, inner-cityresidentialareas, the SouthSydneyindustrialarea, MascotAirportandthe portofBotanyBay, aswellasCentennialParkandthe newfilmcomplexaroundthe formershowgrounds.
Itwouldhave a populationofabout 200,000 withfive wards, eachrepresentedbyfourcouncillorselectedunderproportionalrepresentation.
The area I've outlinedhasnaturalgeographicboundariesforthe centralcore ofthe region.
The restofthe SydneyBasinshouldbe reorganisedinmunicipalitieswithbetween 80,000 and 120,000 people, whichisthe populationfigure consideredbymosturbaneconomiststo allowforsufficienteconomiesofscale to make localgovernmentreasonablyeconomic.
The commissionersundertakingthe redistributionofmunicipalboundariesshouldattemptto designmunicipalareasthathave unifyinggeographicalandregionalfeatures. Thismajorreorganisationobviouslyinvolvesthe mergerofsmallercouncilsandthe divisionofthe overgrownlargercouncilsonthe rural/urbanfringe.
Councilsof 100,000 populationshouldgenerallybe dividedinto fourwardsoffour. The wardprinciple isworthpreservinginlocalgovernmentbecause itgivespeople insmallerareasa reasonable chance ofknowingwho theirrepresentativesare andexertingpressure onthem, because inthe sphere oflocalgovernmentthe livesoflocalpeople are affectedverydirectlybydecisionsmade bytheirrepresentatives.
WardsoffourwithPRisa prettyimportantprinciple because itensuresthatsignificantgroupsinanyarea getrepresentation, asthe quota isonly 20 percent. Inpractice, itwillusuallymeanthatLaborandLiberalgetmajorrepresentation, butthataswellyougetsignificantrepresentationfromenvironmentallymindedindependents, Democrats, Greensorothers, whose presence cankeepthe majorgroupshonest, so to speak.
Inlocalgovernment, a certaintensionbetweenLabor, Liberalandenvironmentallymindedindependents, isa veryhealthythingandleadsto properscrutinyofmeasuresaffectingpeople'sday-to-daylives. The broadprinciple ofwardsoffourwithproportionalrepresentationwouldenshrine a basicallydemocraticenvironmentatthe core oflocalgovernment, andthiswouldbe veryhealthy.
Reorganisationsoflocalgovernmentinthe othermajorstate capitalsshouldtake place onsimilarbroadprinciplesto the onesI have outlinedforthe Sydneyregion, butwouldobviouslybe significantlydifferentbecause ofthe specialfeaturesprevailingineachcity.
Localgovernmentinprovincialcitiesandthe country
Obviouslylocalgovernmentreorganisationpresentsdifferentproblemsoutside the majorcapitals. Some thingsare common. The PRprinciple, withwards, andessentiallywardsoffour, applieseverywhere.
Some majorprovincialcitiessuchasthe Illawarra wouldbe more appropriatelyone large citygovernment, withmaybe evenfive orsixwardsbecause ofthe largerpopulation.
Ingeneral, inmore thinlypopulatedcountryareas, amalgamationoftowncouncilsandshiresisa desirable reform, butevenwithsuchamalgamationsinsome areasthe populationfora viable regionalmunicipalarea stillhasto be farfewerthanthe populationfora viable area inthe majorcities, andthese thingshave to be workedoutveryconcretely, withthe fullparticipationofthe electorate. Nevertheless, the desirable principle isviable areaseconomicallyforthe betterprovisionofservices, combinedwithwardsandPRto ensure democraticrepresentation.
The reorganisationoflocalgovernmentto more effectivelyrepresentthe interestsofpeople ontheirownhome groundshouldbe commencedandcompletedina sensible time frame, butbecause it'sso importantto peopleslivesitshouldbe done carefully, withfullpublicconsultationso properpublicdiscussionofalternativescantake place.
I amadvancingmysetofproposalshere asaninitialcontributiontothe necessarydiscussion, basedona longstudyofthe historyofmunicipalaffairsinAustralia, andsome participationinthematrankandfile level.