Kevin Byrne

Guest Columnist

The past two years have been chaotic for many as State Governments across the country, and some local governments, used the pandemic for naked political purposes to extract more and more financial largesse from a Federal Government as it wrestled with the financial fallout as well as keeping the economy ticking along, managing the borders and providing a sense of purpose as to how the country will navigate it’s way in the uncertain post covid world.

It has been a tortuous time. But will it change? No it seems as the demands for more and more Commonwealth funding is demanded by many who relentlessly play politics by trading on the ignorance of the majority of the population who are wedded to the belief that their difficulties are caused by the PM and government in Canberra. 

The blame it seems for bushfires, floods, labour shortages, hospital surgery waiting times, ambulance ramping, climate change, fuel prices et all has to be laid at the feet of someone else and usually the Federal Government.

Shamefully this is done to suit slippery political objectives of rogue state and local governments fermented by a naive and uninquisitive media.

A first order of business post this federal election should be a clear national understanding and agreement across all levels of government of their responsibilities.

It needs to encompass services and infrastructure responsibilities. For example there is an agreed understanding that our national highways are funded on an 80/20% split between commonwealth and the states. 

Hospitals and other health services, land management including rural fire services and many other services are the responsibility of State Governments.

Each and every national election descends into a free for all auction of bold initiatives aimed exclusively at a voter who wouldn’t have a clue whose responsibility it is to provide the service or provide the infrastructure. “Just show me the money and do it” seems to be the order of the day.

The irresponsibility of much of this is a direct result of our fractured federation model. We have resorted to managing our great challenges through expensive commissions of enquiry and royal commissions that time and again fail us all and whose recommendations take years to implement.

During the pandemic the Prime Minister convened the National Cabinet whose primary role was to provide a nationally consistent health response alongside a need to keep a functioning economy in place.

It soon descended into farce as state governments demanded more and more and ducked the health responsibility for their turf by blaming the federal government. Witness the demands for commonwealth funded quarantine facilities.

The first order of business of any incoming Federal Government should be a commission of enquiry into rationalising the roles and funding responsibilities of each level of government for the provision of agreed services and infrastructure.

The current situation around accusations of pork barrelling, conflicts of interest by our political class and uncertainty as to whose role it is doing us all a grave disservice. We can and should do much better.