The Murray-Darling Basin. Worth saving? - Order of Australia ...

18The Order, Winter 2010OAA North American Group becomes activeAn inaugural gathering of the widely dispersed North American membersof The Order of Australia Association’s Group is being planned withthe active participation of Vice-Patron Kim Beazley AC, Australia’s newAmbassador to the US. The group serves members living in, or passingthrough, its region — the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.ANZAC Day in Washington DC saw North American Group ChairmanGregory Copley AM lay a wreath on its behalf at the Korean War Memorial.Commodore Simon Cullen AM CSC RAN, the Australian Defence ForceLiaison Officer to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, assisted him (see pictureat right). The wreath was then taken to the New Zealand Embassy for thetraditional Gunfire Breakfast and then to the US National Cathedral for theANZAC Day service. attended by a number of OAA members.A generous donorNo need to tamper with the states to control themFederation was achieved after muchdebate, stimulated at the time by theneed to meet certain perceived needs; forexample, free trade between states and acommon defence system.From its inception Alfred Deakinforesaw that the financial power of theCommonwealth could be used to inducethe states to act in accordance with thewishes of the Commonwealth in mattersoutside the constitutional powers of theCommonwealth.His prophecy reached fulfilment in theHigh Court judgment relating to uniformtaxation. In effect the financial powerprovides a powerful extra-constitutionalmeans whereby the Commonwealth,presumably acting in what it believesto be in the best interest of the nation,may encourage certain action by thestates. This is easier than changing theConstitution.Conditional grants for such specificpurposes from Commonwealth to stateslead to the undesirable “buck-passing”and “duplicated bureaucracy” referred toby Dr Drummond. Should some of thesematters be the subject of referendums?If it were the will of the people, theConstitution could then vest some or allof the matters as the exclusive preserve ofthe Commonwealth.Some criticisms of our federal systemrelate to the point of balance between thepowers of the Commonwealth and states.These can be addressed by referendumsrather than moving from a federation toa unitary system at the risk of “throwingout the baby with the bath water”.ResMed designs and manufacturesmedical equipment to treat and managesleep-disordered breathing (SDB) andother respiratory disorders. ResMed wasestablished in Sydney in 1989.At the time sleep apnoea was an almostunknown health issue. Today the disorderis recognised as a factor in three ofthe greatest health challenges facing thedeveloped world — heart failure, strokeand type 2 diabetes.The company has a focus on continuousinnovation to develop breakthroughproducts and technologies to improvethe lives of those who suffer from theseconditions. As global leaders in sleep andrespiratory medicine, ResMed educatesand raises awareness of the potentiallyserious health consequences of untreatedSDB through knowledge-sharing withpatients, clinicians, industry professionalsand the broader community.The article by Dr Mark Drummond in the summer edition of TheOrder (No.26) headed Abolish the States and save $50 billion hasprompted considerable comment. In a recent debate between twoformer Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke AC and John Howard AC, MrHoward ventured the opinion that Australia's founding fathers wereprobably wrong to saddle us with states but it was too late to “correct”it now. John Campbell OAM, who was Clerk of Victoria's LegislativeAssembly for 16 years, writes, “With trepidation, I venture to offera slightly different perspective.”One criticism often advanced is that weare over-governed compared with othernations. I offer the following comments:• Half of the G8 nations and manyCommonwealth nations are federations.Surely they can’t all be wrong!• Responding to long-standing politicalpressure, Scottish nationalism andthe desire of the Scots to share thewealth from North Sea oil, the UnitedKingdom has created and empowered aparliament for Scotland.• Australia is vastly larger in areathan the UK, has great diversityof climate, resources, terrain andpopulation density. Needs andproblems differ between our states,providing justification for devolutionand diversity within defined limits asprovided by state governments.• In the UK, lower levels of governmenthave traditionally exercised jurisdictionin some areas which, in Australia,have been the preserve of the states. Itis therefore understandable that localgovernments spend more in the UK asDr Drummond states.ResMed’s 3,000-plus personnel arelocated in 22 countries with manufacturingoperations in Australia, the US andEurope and now in Singapore.ResMed is proud to be a sponsor ofa Foundation scholarship. This is itssecond such scholarship. Mentoring is animportant part of the culture at ResMed.“Through our investment and mentoringwe can play a role in contributing to thedevelopment of future leaders. The longtermimpact of these young achievers onAustralia’s future is immeasurable andwe are delighted to assist them in reachingtheir full potential.”Why not have a unitary system?Professor Greg Craven claims that“the fundamental argument in favour offederalism in Australia as anywhere elseis that it prevents the abuse of powerby dividing it”. He also states that itguarantees a “balance of discourses”where different views are put. 1Having heard the excellent, wellresearcheddebates in the VictorianParliament on compulsory seat belts andthe abolition of capital punishment, Iendorse his comments and believe thestates have much to offer.Let us amend the Constitution to meetemerging needs in a changing world ifthat be the will of the people. Ratherthan abolish the federal system, I believeit is better to review its operation andmaybe do some fine-tuning to makeit function more effectively, using themechanism designed by the FoundingFathers to “change the rules” of the gameif necessary or desirable.1Australian Parliamentary Review, Spring2009, Vo. 24(2) p.26.