In Australia, we operate with three tiers of government: local, state and federal (you could argue that there is a fourth: the UN and our obligation to its treaties). Government expenditure is most effective when the geographical spend is concentrated in the area where taxes are raised. For example, I can see directly that my local council rates go towards local roads and my garbage collection. By having many small, local and regional government councils, innovative service delivery and taxation regimes can flourish to encourage residents and business to be established. If I do not like a particular council, I have greater access to the elected officials to air my grievances. If I feel strongly enough I can move to another council region (which is much easier than moving state or to another country). This can breed a healthy competition among councils to give the best “bang” for its rate payers buck.
So it is refreshing to note that, in a recent survey by Griffith University, more people are favouring localised and regional governments as opposed to state governments:
The Griffith University report found rising support for abolishing state governments, from 30 per cent to 39 per cent between its May 2008 and March 2010 Newspoll surveys. But it also found increasing support for abolishing federal and local governments. The federal government’s rating as the most effective tier of government has dropped from 50 per cent to 44 per cent, even after Rudd helped save Australia from the global recession and neo-liberalism. Most of this decline was captured in an increase, from 20 per cent to 27 per cent, in support for local councils as our most effective level of government.
But most striking is that 42 per cent of Australians now favour creating regional governments, up from 32 per cent less than two years ago. Adding the 9.3 per cent who favour “more states” suggests that one in two Australians favours shifting power below the state government tier.
…more than one in four Australians now judges its local council to be the most effective tier of government, compared to the less than one-in-six who prefers state governments.
