Australia without the States

Can anyone imagine Australia without the States?

A country with one national government, and just one other tier of government - either local or regional?

There are already several community organisations that think exactly that way and their time has come.

They are organising a conference on the Central Coast, the 12th Shed-a-Tier Conference, on Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, in the Mingara Recreational Club at Tumbi Umbi.

There will be several excellent speakers and plenty of opportunity to have your say as well.

No doubt the tide is changing.

Even several Ministers in the Howard Government have urged national approaches in the health, industrial relations, education, transport and security areas, to mention a few only.

Can Australia organise its government functions more effectively now that we have so much better communications and transport systems compared to 1901 when federation was forged?

Of course we can.

Can we replace the highly centralised state governments, suffering from inherent large city biases, with a superior system of decentralisation?

Sure, and we can amend or rewrite Australia's Constitution to suit today's society, rather than continue to be ruled from the grave of Colonial times.

That is what democracy is about.

With inquiries, phone 4341 5170.

Klaas Woldring, Pearl Beach