Federalism in Australia
Scott Voevodin s4316769
Good morning, today I’ll be examining an article on federalism from The Conversation, an independent online news body that sources its articles from the academic community.
Entitled “Will the Commission of Audit lead to another ‘new federalism’?” it addresses the recommendations recently put forward to the Abbott Government that call for the Commonwealth to withdraw its involvement in sectors that were historically state roles; in particular education and health (Lynch 2014, par. 1). The significance is that these recommendations are in stark contrast to the generally progressive history of centralisation, cooperative federalism and Commonwealth supremacy that occurred in the previous decades …show more content…
The function of the federal system, as originally envisaged, was forged through the doctrine of co-ordinate federalism (Ward, Stewart 2009: 129). As shown in the reading, this doctrine posits two independent spheres of legislative competence (Ward, Stewart 2009: 130). However, the necessity for co-operation and collaboration became apparent as time passed and society and technology evolved (Ward, Stewart 2009: 130). Brown states “[i]n almost every aspect, the federation we have today is vastly different from the federation of 1901…” and this has underpinned the successive shift away from co-ordinate federalism (2007:22). Moreover, High Court decisions interpreting section 51 of the Constitution, which details areas of Commonwealth authority, have increased the scope of Commonwealth law-making ability (Ward, Stewart 2009: 132). The establishment of inter-governmental agencies and bodies such as the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has also facilitated policy co-ordination, power centralisation, and Commonwealth dominance (Ward, Stewart 2009: 137). Nevertheless, there are political agendas, groups and individuals that see co-operative federalism as an obstacle to economic growth, and these views can be attributed to the current Government (Lynch 2014, …show more content…
3). Further, the reading references the Uniform Tax case of 1942, where a Commonwealth law to assume absolute control over income taxes created the vertical fiscal imbalance (Ward, Stewart 2009: 139). Put succinctly, this means that the states have more financial responsibilities than they are able to fund, and the Commonwealth has a surplus of funds (Ward, Stewart 2009: 139). The autonomy of States is limited by conditions imposed by the Commonwealth in accordance with the principles of horizontal fiscal equalisation (Ward, Stewart 2009: 139). The article’s central theme, and the Commission of Audit’s proposal; is that if the Commonwealth is to rescind its involvement in high profile and expensive policy areas like health and education, then it needs to liberate the States’ power to tax people (Lynch 2014, par. 6). All three sources state that such a proposal is extremely contentious - and is historically and politically unlikely to occur. A return to coordinate federalism would be unprecedented, due to the entrenched mores of previous Liberal and Labor Governments since Whitlam in 1972 (Ward, Stewart 2009: 141). Within this scope, we are able to interpret the article’s commentary on contemporary political discourse, and the direction of modern
Scott Voevodin s4316769
Good morning, today I’ll be examining an article on federalism from The Conversation, an independent online news body that sources its articles from the academic community.
Entitled “Will the Commission of Audit lead to another ‘new federalism’?” it addresses the recommendations recently put forward to the Abbott Government that call for the Commonwealth to withdraw its involvement in sectors that were historically state roles; in particular education and health (Lynch 2014, par. 1). The significance is that these recommendations are in stark contrast to the generally progressive history of centralisation, cooperative federalism and Commonwealth supremacy that occurred in the previous decades …show more content…
The function of the federal system, as originally envisaged, was forged through the doctrine of co-ordinate federalism (Ward, Stewart 2009: 129). As shown in the reading, this doctrine posits two independent spheres of legislative competence (Ward, Stewart 2009: 130). However, the necessity for co-operation and collaboration became apparent as time passed and society and technology evolved (Ward, Stewart 2009: 130). Brown states “[i]n almost every aspect, the federation we have today is vastly different from the federation of 1901…” and this has underpinned the successive shift away from co-ordinate federalism (2007:22). Moreover, High Court decisions interpreting section 51 of the Constitution, which details areas of Commonwealth authority, have increased the scope of Commonwealth law-making ability (Ward, Stewart 2009: 132). The establishment of inter-governmental agencies and bodies such as the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has also facilitated policy co-ordination, power centralisation, and Commonwealth dominance (Ward, Stewart 2009: 137). Nevertheless, there are political agendas, groups and individuals that see co-operative federalism as an obstacle to economic growth, and these views can be attributed to the current Government (Lynch 2014, …show more content…
3). Further, the reading references the Uniform Tax case of 1942, where a Commonwealth law to assume absolute control over income taxes created the vertical fiscal imbalance (Ward, Stewart 2009: 139). Put succinctly, this means that the states have more financial responsibilities than they are able to fund, and the Commonwealth has a surplus of funds (Ward, Stewart 2009: 139). The autonomy of States is limited by conditions imposed by the Commonwealth in accordance with the principles of horizontal fiscal equalisation (Ward, Stewart 2009: 139). The article’s central theme, and the Commission of Audit’s proposal; is that if the Commonwealth is to rescind its involvement in high profile and expensive policy areas like health and education, then it needs to liberate the States’ power to tax people (Lynch 2014, par. 6). All three sources state that such a proposal is extremely contentious - and is historically and politically unlikely to occur. A return to coordinate federalism would be unprecedented, due to the entrenched mores of previous Liberal and Labor Governments since Whitlam in 1972 (Ward, Stewart 2009: 141). Within this scope, we are able to interpret the article’s commentary on contemporary political discourse, and the direction of modern