Foundation for National Renewal     The "Model Constitution" Activity

Federal Election October 2004: Which Candidates Trust the People?

Responses to previous Tasks indicate broad support for a two-tiered system of government. That is, a National Government responsible for policy and law making; and approximately 100 Regional governments responsible for local government and for the delivery of most government services using a guaranteed fixed percentage of revenue.

The Task for this month is to generate and test ideas on how the regions could be delineated - that is; how the regions could be selected and boundaries drawn. Rather than just an academic exercise, in this Task it is proposed that respondents analyse their local area, apply the criteria discussed below and delineate a region encompassing their own locality. In this way, it is hoped to highlight problems so they can be resolved before the criteria are incorporated in our Model Constitution.

The criteria for delineating regions are not resolved. However, one concept is to use population as a basic criterion. That is not to say that each region would have the same population. It is envisaged that the populations of regions could vary between 100,000 and 300,000 people. It is also probable that “Special Regions” of less population may be needed to cater for extremely sparsely populated areas of Australia. But if you have other ideas on how regions could be delineated, this task is your opportunity to air those ideas.

Regional governments will have the power (and the means) to exert a great deal of control over such government services as education, health, and law and order. There would be an overall national policy on all of these and only one set of laws; but within those constraints, regional governments would be able to implement policy in a way that suits the circumstances of their particular region. This would give citizens greater control over the delivery of government services in their local area. Furthermore, such an arrangement would also empower people politically.

It is generally agreed that the creation of regional government in rural Australia will be a great boost to the economy and social fabric of the new regions. Each region will have its own capital city. This will attract businesses very often found only in the existing eight capital cities that are quite remote from most of regional Australia. In addition, the Parliament and the associated bureaucracy will also boost the economy.

The cities may require a different approach. An extensive three year, four million dollar study has already been done in Sydney on a proposal to create regions in that city, each with its own government and with responsibilities for both local government issues and the delivery of those government services currently delivered by State Governments. This study indicates that such an arrangement would enhance civic pride, would reduce the problems associated with the daily flood of people into and out of the central business district and would improve control by residents over their local environment.

Some of the issues involved in delineating regions are outlined in the following paragraphs. The most important criterion is to have boundaries that make sense and facilitate good governance.

A prime consideration should be natural features such as catchment areas. If, for example, it is possible to delineate a region that has an appropriate population and can incorporate a single catchment area or combination of catchment areas, many aspects of governance will be enhanced. Primarily, such a delineation would give the regional government enormous control over the local environment and would allow the introduction and promotion of many environment enhancing and preservation projects. Furthermore, water supply, drainage, flood mitigation and sewerage disposal could all be catered for without the frustrating, expensive and time-consuming coordination and compromise that is necessary when many jurisdictions are involved.

Alternatively, it may be that socio-economic considerations predominate. For example, a grouping of like-minded people may be the most persuasive issue in forming a region. Or it could be that one large industry (such as farming, mining or manufacturing) predominates in an area and that might be a good reason for the delineation of a region.

The delineation of regions will be simple in some areas and could be quite difficult in others. But there is no doubt that the delineation of regions should be done in close consultation with the people if the outcome is to be viable and readily accepted.

The creation of regions in the populous big cities may be difficult. Currently, our cities are characterised by a “hub” and a “radiating sprawl” that creates enormous traffic problems and requires enormous expenditure on transport infrastructure. Brisbane, with a population of just under one million people is currently run as one huge local government area. This has worked reasonably well up till now but as the city grows, more and more problems are emerging. On the other hand, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth have a number of local councils with overarching bodies looking after such things as public transport, power supply, water reticulation and so on. This arrangement has been made to work but recent studies have indicated a change is needed if major problems are to be avoided in the future.

It is conceded that if regions were to be created in our cities, over-arching bodies looking after public transport, water reticulation, power supply, sewerage, etc., would possibly still be needed. However, if the boards of these over-arching bodies were to be made up of representatives from regional governments; a greater emphasis on decentralisation could result. For example, one would hope that eventually the public transport system would become a grid instead of the “wagon wheel” currently evident in Sydney and Melbourne.

In Task 10 we examined the possibility of using small 5000 voter electorates in each region to elect regional governments. One way of delineating regions might be to roughly delineate such electorates and then group them to form a region. (As a rough guide, 75% or three quarters of the population can be used to determine the number of voters.)

For the purposes of this Task, population figures will be used as the basic criteria. To facilitate your work, some “specific-to-your-area” population figures are attached. If you live in a capital city, you should be looking for an area that will contain somewhere in the vicinity of 200,000 to 300,000 people. If you live in regional Australia (perhaps in or near a large regional town), you should be looking for an area that has a population of about 100,000 to 200,000 people and if you live in the bush, an area with a population of about 100,000 would be ideal. In a sparsely populated area you might find a smaller population more practical.

The next step is to decide whether or not it is possible to use natural boundaries to delineate your region such as catchment areas, ridgelines, etc. Do not select rivers or creeks as boundaries as that would put the natural catchment area in two adjoining regions. Most of the problems with our waterways stem from the lack of accountability that accompanies more than one jurisdiction having responsibility for any catchment. In the past, it has been accepted that a river for example, provides a natural boundary for governance purposes. However, it is now generally accepted that it is better to have one jurisdiction responsible for both sides of a river. Of course, it will often be impossible for one jurisdiction to cover the whole of a catchment such as the Murray Darling catchment. But it is a relatively simple matter to monitor water quality etc., of a river flowing into and out of a jurisdiction and this promotes accountability.

Ridgelines are often used for roads. This could be seen as a hindrance to the delineation because of possible dispute over responsibility for maintaining the road, etc. However, it is a relatively easy exercise to have each jurisdiction provide equal shares of money to build and/or maintain a road.

If natural boundaries are not apparent, examine social and economic factors in your area and see if they are relevant to the delineation of boundaries for your region. Do not take any notice of current State boundaries in deciding your region.

If none of the above seem to apply, try defining adjacent regions to see if that might suggest appropriate boundaries for your area. If none of the above apply, simply select an area that would contain the appropriate population.

Having selected a tentative boundary, examine the contiguous areas to see if, in general terms, viable regions could be established around your region. For example, if you live in Broome, it may be necessary to draw a boundary somewhere between Broome and Darwin, and Broome and Port Hedland or perhaps between Port Hedland and Geraldton. To do otherwise might make adjacent regions unwieldily.

You might then like to designate a “capital” of your region and examine the ramifications of that to see if it is practical and would be an improvement on existing arrangements.

When you are reasonably satisfied with your boundaries, please complete the following questionnaire.

What is the capital of your region?__________________________________

What is the approximate population of your region?_____________________

What do you envisage would be the capitals of contiguous regions?________

________________________________________________________________

In general terms, what have you used as boundaries?___________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

What advantages do you envisage would become apparent in comparison with current arrangements?______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

What disadvantages do you anticipate?________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Can you delineate electorates of approximately 6,666 people (5,000 voters) within the boundaries of your electorate?________________________________________

How many electorates do you envisage?________________________________

Can you see any problems with a regional parliament made up of one representative from each of those electorates?___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

Do you have any other comments on this scheme that are relevant to your region? Perhaps you might feel something would not work. Alternatively, you might consider some aspect of life or governance might be greatly enhanced by such an arrangement. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________

Having participated in this exercise, do you consider population as a reasonable basic criteria on which to base the delineation of regions?______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Do you have any suggestions to make regarding the use of other criteria as the basis for delineating regions?_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________

Do you have any suggestions regarding the process that should be used to select and delineate regions?________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________

What organisation, person or level of government should have the final say (after adequate community consultation) on the delineation of regions? (Some alternatives might be the Governor General, the National Parliament, the Australian Electoral Commission, the Electoral Ombudsman, etc.)____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________

·=============== ===============·

Last updated: 3 May 2006