Alexander Downer: Proposed change to the Australian Constitution is an idea too remote

This article originally appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser on 26/05/2013 and can be found here. 

Including local government in the Constitution makes no sense, writes Alexander Downer.

THE Australian Constitution is one of the miracles of modern international politics.

Although it was written by middle-aged, middle-class nineteenth century Liberals and Conservatives (Labor had almost no role in the writing of the Constitution), it has stood the test of time like almost no other constitution on earth.

Remember this; although Australia is seen by the world as a “new” country, it is in fact the world’s sixth oldest continuously operating democracy.

For all our complaints about our politicians and each other, Australia is blessed with the sort of political stability most countries can only dream of.

I’ve travelled most of the world and seen how politically unstable it is.

Instability in Africa and the Middle East hits our television screens night after night, but don’t forget the upheavals which periodically beset much of Europe and Latin America. Even Canada, so like Australia in many ways, has been riven by tensions between the Anglophone majority and the Francophone minority.

Our political stability is a tribute to ourselves.

For a start, we are a pretty tolerant lot. Some of us vote Liberal, some Labor, some even Green or for the Palmer United Party – no, maybe not that one.

Anyway, differences over politics for all but fanatics aren’t everything.

Some loving couples split their votes between Liberal and Labor, I’m in business with Labor people and so on.

The point is, we may not agree with each other, but we respect differences and know there are times when we have to compromise.

In some parts of the world, politics is a zero sum game. It’s winner takes all and compromise is weakness. This is particularly a characteristic of the violent politics of the Middle East.

The second characteristic of Australians is they are cautious and sceptical. This has served them well over the past century. They don’t warm to demagogues and ideologues who they instinctively distrust. And they don’t like the idea of playing with the national constitution unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

They abide by the old saying that if you don’t understand it, don’t vote for it.

That’s why I’m not so sure the change to the constitution proposed by the Federal Government in a referendum to be held on September 14 will succeed.

At the moment, polls show it will but the tradition of stable, sensible Australia is to oppose constitutional tampering unless it’s absolutely essential.

The Gillard Labor Government wants you to agree to include a reference to local government in section 96 of the Constitution. Section 96 basically says that the Federal Parliament can make grants to the States on whatever terms it wishes.

Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan want to add to the Constitution so it says the Federal Parliament can also make grants to local government as well.

That sounds innocuous enough. After all, this wouldn’t create local government. It exists already.

Indeed, South Australia has 64 local councils and Australia-wide there are more than 560. Adelaide, including the Adelaide Hills Council and the Gawler Council, has 19 councils.

For a city of just over a million people, that’s a lot. Indeed, Australia’s first formal local government was the City of Adelaide corporation and it was established in 1840.

So there we have it. Local government is alive and well and has been in this state for 173 years. There is some evidence we quite like our local councils.Although, I’m not sure that’s entirely true.

Most people are pretty indifferent to their councils. That’s why so few of them vote in council elections.

Nevertheless, the Local Government Association claims that local government is the most efficient level of government and that it is more responsive to the community than the state and federal governments.

Let’s just assume that’s right. Well, there you have it.

The Local Government Association says all is well with local councils so why on earth do they have to be inserted into the National Constitution?

They already exist and they are, by their own account, doing a decent job.

Well, says Julia Gillard, it’s important that the Federal Parliament is able to provide grants to local councils. I’m sure local government welcomes those subventions from Canberra. But hang on, they get them already.

In fact, since 1974/75 the Federal Parliament has provided $38 billion in Financial Assistance Grants to local government.

This year, the year in which the Prime Minister has announced the Constitution needs to be changed to allow the Federal Parliament to fund local government, the Federal Parliament has voted to send more than $2 billion to local government.

In the case of SA, Federal Parliament is giving local government $145 million.

My guess is this will worry the public.

Local government exists so we don’t need to mention it in the constitution to create it. And it is funded mainly by rates, but also through grants from the state and federal parliaments.

So why do we need to change our national foundation document for something which already happens?

Some will claim that the High Court might rule that federal funding to local government is unconstitutional. Well, they haven’t over the past 40 years. And nothing can stop the Federal Parliament sending the money to states’ grants committees which distribute it on an equitable basis to individual councils. Which is exactly what happens now.

In the end, the public will start to wonder if this “little” constitutional change isn’t driven by another agenda: to give the Federal Government the direct power through funding to bring local councils under its control.

The Federal Government will then be able to tell our councils what types of wheelie bins they have, how their dumps should work, which roads need repairing, whether to fund childcare centres, what environmental rules should apply and so on.

Now remember: local government tells you it is the closest level of government to the public. They are right.

And you guessed it, the level of government most remote from the public is the Federal Government. It’s in Canberra. The plan here is to give the Federal Government a more direct say in how local government works.

I may be wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the public twigged; the most local form of government is about to come under the thumb of the remotest level of government. How does that make sense?

Alexander Downer was foreign affairs minister in the Howard government from 1996 to 2007