Burgeoning crisis of federalism

The Howard Government is also pushing for a more centralised school education policy. This is notable through suggestions of a national values-based curriculum, a revision of history syllabuses and through the Bishop proposed performance-related pay for teachers.

Energy and resources

Howard’s uranium and nuclear energy push is another example of creeping centralisation. Labor premiers have said that there will be nuclear reactors in their states over their dead bodies, but governments change and premiers can be bought off. Many have raised the fact that much of the Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory being accessed by Howard in this period also has plentiful uranium deposits.

Health

According to the Business Council of Australia, a roundtable hosted by the Productivity Commission in October 2005 identified a range of problems with the Australian health system that arise from the shared responsibilities of the Commonwealth and states for health care, including: cost shifting between governments; funding and delivery arrangements that create barriers to continuity of care and good planning; and lack of effective formal structural links between the health and education sectors.

There is continued blame shifting between the Commonwealth and states on responsibility for the parlous state of the health system. Behind that, the Mad Monk, Tony Abbott is increasingly tying state health funds to national health priorities - more centralisation by stealth.

It’s the constitution, stupid

In all this time the constitution has barely changed. In fact, the Australian constitution is one of the most unchanged constitutions of all countries. While this may suit the ruling class ideologically in extolling the permanence of the social order it has become a barrier to its political and financial operations.

The Australian ruling class almost universally recognises a crisis of federation.

In launching its report last year Reshaping Australia’s Federation: A New Contract for Federal-State Relations Michael Chaney, president of the Business Council of Australia, said "Australia’s system of federal-state relations is at a crossroads". That report reaches some interesting conclusions.

It says "the old federal contract between the Commonwealth and the states has broken down. The trend through the 20th century towards the centralisation of power continues unabated."

The report proposes a 12-point plan, beginning with a constitutional convention to overhaul federal-state relations.

The BCA is not alone. In April this year South Australian premier Mike Rann called for a convention to rewrite the constitution. Peter Beattie, Premier of Queensland, made a similar call last October. At a meeting of state leaders in February 2007, the premiers called for a constitutional convention for February 2008 and gave in-principle support to Northern Territory statehood.

The Australian newspaper has called for a constitutional convention in an editorial last November. George Williams, professor of law at UNSW and aspiring ALP parliamentarian, called for a convention in The Age in March. Even monarchists and federalists such as David Flint are backing a call for a convention to fix the constitution. The list could go on. Absent from the list, of course, is the socialist left.

Of course all such players are approaching constitutional change in the most limited of fashion. The ruling class, through the BCA, is looking for a uniform market from which to extract surplus. It is not interested in a democratic constitution.