Nationals leader David Littleproud is calling for a referendum on local government, labelling the current power-sharing model between the states and territories “lazy and unproductive”.
He has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asking for support for constitutional recognition of local government, to “reduce inefficiencies” and “improve service delivery for Australian communities”.
“In designing our federation our forefathers enshrined certain functionality to our states. Fast-forward 122 years and I suspect they would be saddened to see the evolution of federation,” Mr Littleproud said.
“But today the states’ and territories’ business model is to just blame Canberra and ask for more money. It has become lazy, unproductive, and frankly we can do better.
“Our federation was at its best when competitive federalism was at its core, when states competed against one another for both population and capital investment.”
In 1988, the Hawke government held a referendum proposing constitutional recognition for local government by the Commonwealth. It failed, with only 33.61 per cent of voters agreeing to the change.
The Albanese government will prioritise putting the “voice to parliament” referendum before the Australian people, having pledged that a vote will be held in its first term.
Mr Littleproud said allowing local government to compete against the states would reduce duplication and improve transparency and services.
“Whether it be in Charleville or Dubbo, local government gets it,” he said.
“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to provide them with the money directly, rather than passing it through the state governments to clip the ticket?
“They’re on the ground, they know their communities and want taxpayer dollars to go even further.
“The Nationals stand prepared to sign up to this journey, and it’s now time for political leaders of all persuasions to take that step as well.”
