Small town life-styles

Only a few of Australia’s inland centres like Armidale and Wagga Wagga come even close to this level of viability, and those with substantial industrial development are generally associated with mining. Such towns have a habit of collapsing catastrophically, and their reputation certainly doesn’t encourage personal investment in housing, education or modern business enterprises: one reason it is so hard to attract doctors and other professions to the country.

What’s more, the systematic degradation of our railways in favour of road transport, and the privatisation of train transport guarantee that rail’s emphasis now is entirely on servicing the mining industry and inter-capital transport. With privatisation, governments lost the ability to enlist rail in support of regional development programs without massive direct subsidies; Telstra is much the same.

Decentralisation can take many forms. At the most local end of the scale it should make households more self-sufficient in, for instance, retention on site of stormwater for garden and toilet use, saving valuable reticulated drinking water.

But the greatest gains are to be made in the active promotion of regional centres: by improving their educational and recreational facilities and efficient road, rail, air and communications infrastructure.

Australia will only escape the bonds of history if we make massive long term infrastructure investments to pick up the slack of generations. Direct subsidies and tax breaks will also be essential.

Politically, decentralisation suffers the same problems as global warming. The cost of implementing essential measures must be paid up front, but the obvious benefits only accrue down the track. Doubtless the promoter will be ridiculed by an opportunistic opposition for wasting time and money on harebrained schemes.

Another obstacle is fear of failure. But governments don’t necessarily need to “pick winners” (an idea that invokes the Thatcherite bogeyman). They do however need to become active participants in the process over many years.

So effective decentralisation requires high-level and long-term co-operative planning between state and federal governments, and this will only happen if the two major parties set up co-operative processes and agree to keep partisan politics out of the debate.