People all over the country are saying that they want more money going into our public health and education systems, yet they seem to want the Federal Government to provide it. Every poll in every newspaper across the country seems to have people calling out for the Federal Government to fix all the various state problems we have. Canberra has started to intervene in a few areas, however, such as a hospital here and there. Isn’t it funny how they always seem to find a hospital in a marginal seat to fix?
The Federal Government doesn’t have anywhere near the resources to deal with all these separate problems at once without simply imposing a “one-size-fits-all” solution. No one talks about increasing funding to the states, which is what would be preferable if we are going to increase funding to anything. Instead, we just see people constantly looking to the Federal government to solve state problems, bypassing the states completely in most cases.
Centralisation of power is a fundamentally bad idea. It removes any chance of competitive federalism and policy experimentation, it imposes a single solution on a varied array of problems, and it removes the important “checks-and-balances” that come from having power spread among a larger group of people.
The Liberty & Democracy Party favours a policy of decentralisation: all necessary government functions should be devolved to the state and local levels wherever possible to ensure that the Federal Government isn’t just providing a single solution to a nation of very different people with different needs.
Ultimately, most government services should be made private to allow for maximum competition. The needy would be provided with vouchers to ensure they are left with the “buying” choice to make, to further ensure competition and consumer choice for all. It is clear that government services are just ripping more and more money from the people of Australia with little positive result. Is the real answer to put more money into them?
Filed under: Policy
