The Prime Minister has used the Federal Liberal Council meeting to take a step closer to handing more power to the states. Tony Abbott says the federation has great strengths but they are combined with buck passing, duplication, waste and inefficiency. He made a pre-election pledge to have a white paper on reform of the federation and today has released the terms of reference for that document and confirmed it will be delivered by the end of next year. There has been tension in his Governments relationship with the states - even those with Coalition premiers - because of recent budget decisions. The May budget revealed a plan that would see the states receive $80 billion less in projected spending on hospitals and schools over the next decade. Mr Abbott has told the Liberal gathering it is time to make each level of government sovereign in its own sphere. The terms of reference reveal the federation white paper will consider limiting Commonwealth funding to core national interest as spelled out in the constitution. In a move away from the Commonwealth gradually taking more control over service delivery, the terms of reference say the Commonwealth Governments position is that responsibility should lie with the lowest level of government. There is however a provision for national interest where it is considered appropriate to take a national approach rather than have diversity between jurisdictions. The document highlights that the states do not raise enough revenue to cover the cost of their spending responsibilities and points to the white paper on taxation, which is also being prepared. That document will consider significant changes including increasing the rate of the GST. It can also draw from the recent Commission of Audit report, which recommended the states be given more power over services but also be allowed to raise more money to pay for them by imposing their own income taxes. The Prime Minister has meanwhile signalled a new approach to dealing with the new Senators who will be sworn in next month. During his council address, Mr Abbott asked the new crossbench Senators to respect his mandate. In turn, he has promised not to hector or lecture them. We respect your election as we ask you to respect ours. We simply ask that you acknowledge the trust placed in us by the Australian people to be their government, Mr Abbott said. Liberal Party must attract and retain more women Last night, outgoing council president Alan Stockdale told the meeting the party needs to boost its membership and increase the number of women in senior roles. The party needs to attract and retain more women as office bearers, as candidates and as MPs. This should be seen as a key priority for the party as a whole, he said. He said the party also needs to find new ways to raise funds. I believe that fundraising will attract more and more regulation and will become even more difficult than it has been over the last few years, he said. As a result, I believe the party has no real choice but to place increased reliance on raising a large number of small donations as happens in many other western democracies. Subject to proper protection of the partys interest, we should make it easier for people to join the party and more difficult for vested interests to exclude applicants. I also think that we should consider opening the federal organisation to corporate membership across the country particularly as were facing a pattern of the banning of corporate donations.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 05:59:57 +0000
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