The milkman summed up the political scene: "There's not a statesman among them (federal or state leaders) and no sign of one on the horizon; it's an awful mess".
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Now the Nationals Senator, Matthew Canavan, wants to create new states "to bring government closer to the people".
We don't want more government, Senator, we want less. What is needed are leaders and parties who will stand up to the metro-centric parties who can't see further than the few suburbs they represent and are merely interested in staying in parliament.
The Senator's party, the Nationals, show an appalling lack of courage in standing up to its Coalition partner; this was reflected in the way it defended the first Abbott Government budget mess that neglected most Australians.
If the good Senator wants greater recognition for his regional constituents he should follow the advice of a QandA viewer: "Repairing the Australian Constitution is the real issue, (Federal) Parliament should reflect the Australian society, not the states".
In May, this column wrote that the Senate needed to be restructured every 10 years; states abolished; regional administrations taking over local government functions and Federal Government seats based on community of interest, not population.
"Bringing government closer to the people" is an admirable sentiment; but, to be effective it means more MPs in far-flung regional electorates, less (by amalgamation) in inner-metropolitan seats and MPs spending more time being available at home rather than in Canberra having silly point-scoring debates.
In a nutshell, there is no point in the Senator saying his constituents around Rockhampton were "being continuously over-ruled and over-governed by governments in capital cities" unless his party leads the charge and stops forever fawning to its Coalition partner.
Don't expect the Labor Party to deliver on constitutional change either.
Labor couldn't get its chance right in delivering a new method of electing the leader of its federal caucus, the alternative PM. Instead of a fair vote, it was weighted in favour of sitting MPs.
The vote delivered Bill Shorten instead of the man in the Chifley and Curtin mould, Anthony Albanese, the man the grass roots wanted. - Graham Gorrel