JOHN HOWARD will today step up his assault on the Labor states with a warning that the recent spate of Commonwealth interventions is a sign of things to come if the Coalition is re-elected.

from SMH.

I for one think we are over governed and get frustrated over mis management of federal money by the NSW governement.

I am sick of hearing the NSW governement whining about NSW schools, hospitals, roads and public transport being in such a s***ty condition because of lack of funding from the Federal Governement and then hearing they are giving themselves a payrise or funding some BS project or that they have 100k+ more public sector employees then they require on their pay roll.

I hate the constant buck passing between the two over all these issues so I would be pretty happy if the Federal Governement took it all over.

Im sure other states have these problems too. Thoughts?

I like the council reform but cutting out the states might go a bit too far.

the division of state/federal relations would be fine if the states would provide the f***ing services they are supposed to.

under the present arrangement, we have queensland in virtual shut down mode (has anyone driven the gateway here ffs) with hospitals that are dysfunctional, a road network on the verge of collapse, no water, and look at NSW's public transport system...

the states have been receiving GST payments far beyond the pre-GST projections and they are still crying poor. they just do not know how to handle money.

typical of the old adage that Liberal governments are elected to fix up the s*** labor breaks.

I am sick of hearing the NSW governement whining about NSW schools, hospitals, roads and public transport being in such a s***ty condition because of lack of funding from the Federal Governement and then hearing they are giving themselves a payrise or funding some BS project or that they have 100k+ more public sector employees then they require on their pay roll.

That's right, because federal departments are the beacons of efficiency.

I reckon the local governments should have power on controversial issues, and the feds can just enforce the stuff that everyone agrees on. Yeah it'll be a bit confusing going from town to town, but the culture might be more diverse, and it won't be the same s*** everywhere you go.

the division of state/federal relations would be fine if the states would provide the f***ing services they are supposed to.

Read: Coalition in power Federally, Labor in power in all States.

Sorry infi, I just can't read anything you write anymore without automatically assuming its coming from your extreme political bias.

Also, State Governments are important. Otherwise we have a situation where NSW and VIC through sheer weight of voting numbers would dominate agenda and policy on local issues.

We don't want that do we?

Hence we have a Senate in Federal government. Being from Queensland it might seem foriegn to you to have an more then 1 Tier of elected officals in a government.

the states have been receiving GST payments far beyond the pre-GST projections and they are still crying poor. they just do not know how to handle money.

And don't forget they are still collecting stamp duties......which they supposed to scrap because we now have GST. Where have all the $$ gone man.

lol ara pays out qld.

QLD 4 LYFE YO.

No srsly, I agree with you, I don't think the state governments are using the money they are given well enough, so I'm fine with fed government taking ownership, as long as they do a good job.

nsw is s*** because it had to run down public infrastructure and services to hold the olympics. this was known at the time but we still cheered.

f*** the states. strengthen local councils providing better local representation and democracy, weaken the states. anything that requires big picture viewpoint like education, healthcare, emergency services should got to federal government, everything else should go to enhanced local councils.

state members are to distant like their federal counterparts, councilors are close enough to their constituents but don't have enough responsibity.

Sorry infi, I just can't read anything you write anymore without automatically assuming its coming from your extreme political bias.

But how is what he said not correct?

The simple fact is, Labour are a bunch of clowns when it comes to getting anything done.

Plus, what ara said. Nice work having no process of review on your laws.

bleh. i can only hope that this crappy political prestidigitation will lead enough federal swinging voters to vote the libs out federally next election. howard is always on about how his tiny majority in federal votes gives him a 'mandate' to do whatever the f*** he wants.. so what about the state government's mandates? why is it ok that they get steamrollered by the feds?... they were voted in by the people too.

ps: ara your link is missing the h from http

Beattie is f***ed, get that turd out.

He has failed non-stop, why do d*******s keep voting that bitch back in.

ps: ara your link is missing the h from http

thanks, corrected.

Beattie is f***ed, get that turd out.

He has failed non-stop, why do d*******s keep voting that bitch back in.

I really don't like Beattie, but would you vote in the coalition?

Sorry infi, I just can't read anything you write anymore without automatically assuming its coming from your extreme political bias.

So I can't tell my joke?

Q: How many trade unionists does it take to run a State government?
A: Why the hell would let trade unionists anywhere near a state government!?

I like the idea of the feds stepping in on things the states have been dicking around on for years. The murray etc.



last edited by giririsss at 11:42:32 20/Aug/07

how is what i said out of context? did you even read the link that ara posted? i was addressing exactly what the article was about.
it is about the feds stepping in over state governments... not about how you might feel about the current queensland government or thier opposition.

I'll tell you how it was out of context:

jim, your comment is a cheap shot and totally out of context

Queensland have an opposition?

Damn, mis read one word. oh well.

haha, qld opposition

thats hi-larious!

But how is what he said not correct?

The simple fact is, Labour are a bunch of clowns when it comes to getting anything done.

I took your first line seriously until I read your second. Being loyal to a political party (and conversely hating on one) always struck me as a bit stupid. Why in the world would I want to do that?

Also, ITS THE f***ING LABOR PARTY.

I voted for the Federal Coalition for the last decade or so, but they've turned into a bunch of absolute cockmunchers lately, probably because they got fat heads with a combined upper and lower house majority.

You see that ara? I'm actually a NSW native! Living in Cairns I totally understand the pain of not having a house of review; FNQ barely gets a word in when it comes election time.

IMO We are over governed.

Honestly, the Council amalgamations are good. Its going to halve the number of pollies at local levels in Queensland.

But lets follow it up with electoral reform at state and federal levels.

The senate is meant to be the states house, at the moment it is a rubber stamp for the lower house, and even when one party doesn't have both it still is party lines not "what's good for my state". So the senate is broken. They need to stop voting on part lines and vote for their constituents. In part that's our fault for not writing to the senator's when they don't do the right thing by the state and for re-electing those who don't stand up for the state.

At least in Queensland we don't have 2 houses!

The buck passing is lame. And I am glad both Ducky Howard and Premier Pete are having a go at it and recognize it as an issue. (imo Get rid of states, and make local councils larger).

Federal is cashed up, states are running broke, local are mixed. Infrastructure is failing (ie. dams, power, roads, transport).

And infi forget Labor bashing, there is no viable alternative option in Queensland atm (the Libs here are sad)... And the problems aren't as simple as you make them out to be (its Pete's fault!! waaah), roads for instance are funded at all 3 levels of government, and in fact your response is exactly why they play pass the buck, cos the "educated" will swallow the story.

ok, so Beattie and Labor have done nothing wrong. sorry, my bad.

i think the council amalagmations are good too

less pollies the better!

plus it means less councils sending us wrong/retarted data each rates run

i swear, the IT departments at 95% of councils are little old ladies with spreadsheet training (half assed training)

they never manage to send us data in teh correct format!!!!

less councils means less retarted data for me to look at and fix

Being loyal to a political party (and conversely hating on one) always struck me as a bit stupid. Why in the world would I want to do that?

I'm not loyal to any particular political party. Though I think you'd be surprised where my votes go. But the simple fact is labor f*** everything up they come near. Mandatory term lengths for example in Victoria. Great idea. Until they made the terms four years, which is just too danm long. So you vote in a useless government and they can do nothing for three years and make noise on the forth. Of turn things completely to trash in the first two and have everyone forget about it by the third.

Really we need rotating partial elections. Ie, every year, 25% or 33% of parliamentary seats are up for election. This means governments need to ALWAYS be doing a good job rather than just waiting for election years. Either that or do away with party allegiances and collusion.

The senate is meant to be the states house, at the moment it is a rubber stamp for the lower house, and even when one party doesn't have both it still is party lines not "what's good for my state". So the senate is broken.

Well said.

ok, so Beattie and Labor have done nothing wrong. sorry, my bad.

No one suggested they haven't made mistakes. Every government makes mistakes. All you can do is critically look at the process that caused that mistake and learn from it. To pretend there aren't mistakes is to claim to be superhuman. And I think you believe the Howard Liberal government has been infallible and always will be. Lots of people are moving interstate to here, something must be going right ?

Infi, you can't constructively look at any issue. Your response is "Liberal is right, Labor is wrong". It is your only response and usually adds nothing to the conversation (we already know you are going to say it).

Being partisan is great and all, but are you incapable of looking at things critically and going "that's good, that's bad, and that still needs work" ?
You appear to be the sort of person that wants an opposition to always oppose an idea, instead of listening and going "hey that's not bad we can support that" or "what about if we amended it to be", that way there is always a right and wrong.

A good opposition is as important as a good government as you can see in Queensland where the nearest thing we have to an opposition is the press (and in Queensland its pretty trashy).

"Its my way or its the highway" is not the way to run a country, or for that matter a small business I would have thought.

"Its my way or its the highway" is not the way to run a country,

That sounds very remeniscent of Beattie's behaviour during the Council amalgamations. I was one of the few actually going into bat for Beattie on that one, but then again I'm "partisan" right? Then he pulls out this stunt about sacking councils which run a referendum. The guy is seriously drunk on power. He could govern for 100 years, remember that comment?

I have openly criticised the Howard government on this very forum about the anti-terror laws. They aren't perfect.

What has Beattie actually achieved in his government? He has tread water for 10 goddamn years and people write here about how good he is. He hasn't built a single f***en road or railway line or hospital or dam and you try to defend him. South East Queensland is suffocating to death!

As for the migration rate, check the latest figures and you will see migration to Brisbane has slowed dramatically because word has spread, housing is almost as dear here as it is down south and the traffic is just as bad cause Beattie did nothing.

He will turn Brisbane into a s***hole just like Sydney by the time he is done with it.

I give credit where credit is due and Beattie deserves none.

Could be worse, we could have Uncle Joe as our premier.

what are your thoughts on job security obes?

That sounds very remeniscent of Beattie's behaviour during the Council amalgamations

Only if you haven't looked into the issue at all.

The boundaries were drawn up the Queensland Local Government Reform Commission headed up by Bob Longland, not Premier Pete.
The panel is/was
* Bob Longland (Chair) – a former Electoral Commissioner for Queensland.
* Di McCauley – former Queensland Local Government and Planning Minister from 1996 to 1998.
* Tom Pyne – former President of the Local Government Association of Queensland and former Mayor of Cairns.
* Sir Leo Hielscher – Chair of Queensland Treasury Corporation.
* Terry Mackenroth – former Deputy Premier and Treasurer and a Member of Queensland Parliament from 1977 to 2005.
* Bob Quinn – former Leader of the Queensland Liberal Party.
* Kevin Yearbury – former Electoral Commissioner and Director-General of the Local Government and Planning Department.

They drew up the boundaries, not Labor. And yes the government was pushing to amalgamate a lot of them and the commission knew that. Who can blame them when half the councils in Queensland services communities of less then 5000 people. Are you trying to argue that we need 20 councils with 20 mayors and 100 councilors for a gabba full worth of people ? You don't think that is wasting money on the councils and their elections (its over 700 pollies) ? You talk about labor governments wanton spending of money. Here is a government trying to reduce overheads finacial and political and you are against it, why ? ... because it's a Labor idea ? or do you have something meaningful to add ?

These boundaries are 100 years old. 100 years ago the state was a very different place, with different industries and different populations. Something does need to happen, and at least the Government backed the commission and is implementing their report for better or worse. Or should they pay for these reports and not use them ?

However, passing laws to block plebacites was stupid. Then again so was encouraging plebacites in the first place.

Names of the councils btw are up to the local people to work out via concensus.

And now with the landmark legislation the only real concern the local governments have which is maintaining the feel and historical importance of a place is being protected. (As long as they get it right or close to right).

I give credit where credit is due

No you just blather on about Liberal is right, Labor is the end of the world. It's all you ever do.

A typical response from a city-centric person who knows nothing about country life or country people.

Just 2 weeks ago I was in a country town 6 hours west of Brisbane visiting my sister and her family and funnily enough they had a fair bit to say about the amalgamations. (Actually once you get to Gatton, and you switch to Country ABC all they talked about all day was the amalgamations both on the way there and on the way back.)

Suffice to say they feel pretty strongly about the matter. So although I do support the amalgamations I also understand that country Qld is pretty pissed off.

Country Qld doesn't give two s***s about Brisbane or th eir council amalgamations. The only people they ever see from "the government" are Council folk. That is the hub of their communities. Country folk don't goto hospitals - they just die. Country folk don't goto uni, they just go out on the tools and work. The one service they use is their local council for roads and other basic infrastructure like the water and the dump.

From their POV these amalgamations achieve nothing, because it was working fine before. As for the per capita service of the council, that doesn't make the geographical size any smaller.

Beattie's heavy handed approach just rubs salt into the wounds reminding the country folk how powerless they are and Beattie doesn't care about them because they voted National anyways. Now that's arrogance for you.

Queensland will now have less councils than Victoria.

last edited by infi at 14:48:39 20/Aug/07

beattie has pumped a lot of money into research and development companies and institutions. Particularly in the biomedical field. Research spending at the moment from federal funding is virtually on deaths door, but queensland has survived much of the fall because of this. That is something I have to give him respect for because research is such a long term investment but in reality one of the few things australia can compete in. It's also very anti union and hence very anti labor.

Who cares about medical research when the current health system is f***ed.

It's all fine and dandy that he's pumping money into that... but when I had my accident, I had to sit on a s***ty steel chair in a cramped waiting room for 9 hours, with a hole in my knee the size of a fist, just to see a nurse! Then another 3 hours to see an intern doctor fresh out of med school, then another 3 hours to get an orthopaedic surgeon.

The surgeon said the system is f***ed, it only took 40 minutes to fix it up and would have regained 100% strength, but because of the 15 hours of waiting with a massive trauma wound I will have knee problems for the rest of my life.

Yay! So glad he's pumping money into research! It sure helps people getting screwed over everyday by our f***ed health system.

Awesome research!

Yeah, how about we stop all research.... or better yet forget about all advancements research has given us. That way you can see a doctor really quickly, and all he or she will need is a saw to cut your leg off.

last edited by Chakas at 15:35:41 20/Aug/07

Of course we need research, but we also need a working heath system, one where you don't get surgery 15 hours late and in a hospital corridor.

Beattie hasn't done s***, his team are a bunch of unskilled douche's.

but the opposition are just a bunch of turd sandwiches.

Yeah they are pissed.
I only lived in Brisbane for about half my life. But always a townie. So yeah I'll have a different view to someone from a small center or property. But my family didn't come from here, they came from Barcaldine, MtMorgan and Babinda. So I heard enough of the stories to know the towns they are now, are not the towns they were 100 years ago. And yeah I can see how they'll be pissed. They are worried that there already tiny town might get neglected even more. Which is easy to believe with the say they get treated by Telstra etc. And it'd be sad to see any more ghost towns in Queensland. Buggered if I know how you attract a new industry to MtMorgan.

And yeah I can see them fighting it tooth and nail. Just like they fight every change. But it'd be worse if they didn't care what happened. The problem is not all the councils were working well (if you believe Queensland Treasury Corporation) otherwise they probably would have left them alone.

Its actually very unlike Pete to actually not be the wet sock "popularist".

Queensland will now have less councils than Victoria.

Melbourne is 30 something councils alone isn't it ?

ps. I don't rate Pete, he's all teeth and smiles, polls not policies. But seriously what alternative do we have in Queensland ?
And yeah he has let a bunch of our infrastructure run down. But he is not solely to blame. The federal could have done something (as they are now proving), the local governments were technically responsible for a lot of it too.

Guess its why I rekon they need to get rid of states and have stronger local governments. Less places to pass the buck to.

I couldn't have voted for Bob Quinn on principle. Had him as a PC teacher in grade 6 and 7 (back in the dark ages). He'd sit in the corner on his lounge reading a paper, all we did was typing tutor.

He'd sit in the corner on his lounge reading a paper, all we did was typing tutor.

hey that's good enough for me!

Beattie is a dick.

Council amalgamations have winners and losers. Winners primarily being SE QLD people, which is why Beattie is very comfortable with a big grinning FU to any council or shire who doesn't like it.

infi is correct; the amalgamations are big news outside cities and regional centres. The NQ tablelands Shires (Mareeba, Atherton etc) are really taking it up the ring over this, but they are realistic and getting on with it.

Regarding comments on bias; I just have a lot of trouble rationally considering the argument of anyone who says "political party xyz are c***s they always f*** everything up". Both (all three?) major parties in Australia have had positive and negative contributions to the country over the years. For every f***up on one side there's another equally represented on the other; the same for achievements.

The question (if it actually IS a question for you!) is who is / will be the best choice now. Personally I'm leaning to giving Labor (see? LABOR) a run, I gave Howard's boys the benefit of the doubt when they got an Upper and Lower House majority and I'm not impressed with the outcome; f*** em.

Of course we need research, but we also need a working heath system, one where you don't get surgery 15 hours late and in a hospital corridor.

Beattie hasn't done s***, his team are a bunch of unskilled douche's.

Of course the Australian Medical Association limiting the number of graduates, from federal education systems, has nothing to do with it.