...RELATIONS? 4 4 AUSTRALIA’S FEDERATION – HOW IS IT OPERATING? 5 5 INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS 8 6 INTERNATIONAL FEDERAL SYSTEMS: A BRIEF OVERVIEW 9 7 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 PRINCIPLES OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS EFFECTIVENESS TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY EFFICIENCY INDEPENDENCE 11 11 33 34 37 40 8 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 INTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL ARRANGEMENTS REVENUE RAISING SPENDING FISCAL EQUALISATION MONITORING POLICY 43 43 51 55 56 57 9 CONCLUSION 59 INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS IN FEDERAL SYSTEMS INTRODUCTION 1| INTRODUCTION Australia, like many other systems of government around the world, is a federal system. Federations, while divided into different levels of government inevitably have a degree of interdependency between governments. Inescapably there arises a degree of conflict or ineffective governance. For example, disputes may arise between different governments on the basis of service provision or infrastructure, constitutional jurisdiction, fiscal arrangements (e.g. vertical fiscal imbalance or spending powers) or environmental or social issues. Most federations have developed a system of intergovernmental consultation and cooperation to deal with such issues, and to manage and foster cooperation between governments. The character of intergovernmental arrangements is unique to each federation, and depends on various factors such...
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...Australia is one of the few democratic nations in the world to operate without a Bill of Rights – it is clear that Australia functions in such a way that does not require an explicit, document outlying specific human rights. A Bill of Rights is a formal declaration of the legal and civil rights of the citizens of any state, country or federation. It is consideration to be a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose of a Bill of Rights serves to protect the rights and liberty of property – also guarantees personal freedom, reserves powers to the state and the public, and limit the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings (REFERENCE). This inquiry will assess the necessity of a Bill of Rights in Australia through the through and discerning...
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...INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS IN FEDERAL SYSTEMS 39 7.5| INDEPENDENCE The actions and decisions of intergovernmental relations must be free from undue influence from political or private interests. They must have high-level commitment. The Productivity Commission has a very important role in Australia’s economic competitiveness in identifying reform priorities for Australia, and conducting detailed research and making recommendations on potential solutions. The Productivity Commission’s contribution to the understanding of our federal system has been seen in a number of reports it has produced, including the recent compilation of materials from the 2006 Roundtable Proceedings in Canberra entitled Productive Reform in a Federal System. The Productivity Commission’s role in federal–state relations is limited however: + The research priorities are set by the Commonwealth Government (and therefore potentially guided by political interests of the day rather than long-term objectives) and there is limited opportunity for the Productivity Commission to set its own work priorities. + There is no ‘buy-in’ by the state governments (either in terms of the direction of the Productivity Commission’s work agenda, the funding of the Commission or the outcomes). + There is no requirement for the Commonwealth Government to respond to the reports of the Productivity Commission, and therefore less accountability for the findings. Two considerations...
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...“Australia is a Classless Society” Discuss. It is this ideal that has in fact attracted many migrants to Australia over the course of its history. This essay will discuss some of the theories and definitions of class, then examine how they relate to Australian society, and whether Australia does indeed have a class system, arguing that in many ways, it does. It will discuss people’s perception of classes and their position in them, mobility between classes, and the impact of class on health, education and crime. It will show that there is a direct correlation between class and the level of crime, the health of an individual and the level of education attained. At its federation in 1901 the new nation of Australia was founded on principles of equality, although as Belinda Probert points out in her lecture ‘Class in 2001’, (Probert, 2001) this equality did not extend to women, Aborigines or people from non Anglo races. This egalitarian belief was founded on the notion of a fair and decent wage, an ideal proposed by Justice Higgins of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in 1907, when he set the first minimum weekly wage. This wage 1 was to reflect the cost of living, the amount of money required by an average person for the basic necessities of life; food and water, housing and clothing. This was called the Harvester Judgment. What is class? It is a division in society of a group of people who all have a similar social and economic status. For Karl Marx this...
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...large number of British and Italy immigrants and some Europeans as well as over 24,000 Chinese immigrated to Australia to earn living by panning, farming, mining and trade in this period. Every single settler endured the long and arduous ocean navigation because Australia became a dream land as a shortage of labour and abundant resources (Migration Expert, n.d.). After the establishment as a Federation of States in 1901, the first reformation for limiting the non-white immigrants was the Immigration Restrictions Act of 1901, also known as ‘White Australia policy’, but it was opposed by the British government because of the racial discrimination. However, the immigration officer selected the European language test which was a rigorous dictation test to restrict non-white settlement in 1909 (Charles 1987). After the Second World War, in order to avoid Japanese invasion, the Australian government began a massive immigration from Europe to increase Australia’s white population. Millions of outcast refugees from the war in Europe immigrated to Australia to seek asylum. Therefore, the Australian government signed agreements with the International Refugee...
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...Federal State Budget Institution of higher education «FINANCE UNIVERSITY UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION» Chair of «Macroeconomic regulation» Essay Moscow 2014 Introduction 3 Main part 4 The impact of sanctions on the financial sector 4 The impact of sanctions on the industry of the Russian Federation 6 The impact of sanctions Russia in the nearest future 7 Conclusion 9 Introduction The first sanctions against Russia were introduced on 6 March 2014, but they had a more symbolic and looked more like a friendly gesture from the West than on a real blow to the economy. The following steps restrictions for the Russian Federation have become much more significant and can cause serious damage to the Russian economy in the medium term. The effect of the sanctions were government officials, major banks, energy companies and the defense, in addition from European, American, Japanese, Canadian and Australian companies made a decision to limit the supply of technologies, weapons, minerals and other goods to the Russian market. According to analysts, in the current conditions on the results 2014 because of the sanctions, Russia will lose about 23 billion euros, or 1.5% of GDP, in 2015, almost 75%, which will further affect the economy and will account for almost 5% of GDP. It is important to note that in such conditions greatly slow down the inflow of foreign investment in Russia, 75% of them falling on the country's membership of...
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...Introduction With the high manufacturing costs and unfavorable Australian dollar that caused a difficulty for Toyota to export its cars overseas, Toyota has made an announcement that it will stop manufacturing cars in Australia in 2017 following Ford and Holden’s move (Wallace & Ferguson, 2014). The closure of Toyota’s car manufacturers in Australia will affect numerous people including the shareholders and stakeholders of the company. Also, this decision will affect the car making industry as well as the country’s economy. The purpose of this essay is to identify both the negative and positive consequences that will appear when Toyota stops manufacturing cars in Australia. The essay will also point out the responsibility bear by Toyota and the Australian government for these consequences. In this essay, the shareholder and stakeholder theories of corporate social responsibility are used to analyse and evaluate the decision made by Toyota. Background of Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation was first established in Japan in 1937. It is one of the largest car makers in the world, with numbers of factories which manufacture or assembly motor vehicles worldwide. It can be said as a most successful and most profitable car manufacturer in the world. Vehicles produced by Toyota Motor Corporation are divided into five brands which are Toyota, Lexus, Hino, Ranz, and Scion. The vehicles produced under these brands are sold in more than 170 countries (Toyota, n.d.). Toyota Australia...
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...It would be difficult to disagree that for one of the smaller representing populations in Australia, Indigenous Australians are at disadvantage in many areas. Areas ranging from employment, housing, justice and education among many more. There have been innumerable efforts at overcoming the disadvantages Aboriginal people have to face. For the purposes of this Essay, literature will be discussed in addressing the social inequality and disadvantage of indigenous people in relation to refining the gap in life expectancy (as a social-economic indicator) and what essential elements need to be considered for the process to work successfully. There are contending ideas in relevant literature as to what is the cause for the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, which also gives dissimilar arguments as to how to address the issue, with one side taking a view of longevity and the other a holistic method. It is argued that Indigenous Australians health inequalities could be narrowed with the improvement of the differences in health service access, provision and use. As the inabilities gain adequate health care due to, distance, cultural and availability barriers, thus leading to indigenous health problems being constant and prolonged (Healey 2002). However Eades of the of the Indigenous health research unit (2000, p.468) argues ‘that a complete tactic to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders involves understanding the close relationships...
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...prohibit the use of various drugs. The declaration of ‘war on drugs’ took place in the United States of America (USA) in 1971. The historical response to the ‘war on drugs’ has been prohibition: the complete banning of drug use. This approach, which involves strict enforcement of illegal drug laws, has proven costly and ineffective (RCAP & RANZCP, 2004). This essay will focus on Australia’s current drug debate regarding the legalisation of certain prohibited illicit drugs. Whilst examining the Australian position, this essay will use international examples to illustrate how the current strategy fails and survey workable solutions. Firstly, this work examines the historical position of the ‘war on drugs’. It will outline the history of drug use in Australia and the nation’s current drug policy. This essay will then discuss the criminal, social, health and policy issues surrounding the debate regarding the legalization versus prohibition. Having addressed these points this essay concludes the prohibition of certain illicit drugs has failed comprehensively and legalising, controlling and regulating drugs should be the new Australian drug policy. Body The ‘war on drugs’ is fundamentally a viewpoint voicing...
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...Should the Australian Government privatise Medibank Private? Since the 1990s the Commonwealth and State governments of Australia has privatised a sizeable portion of the public sector (Reserve Bank of Australia 1997). The prospect of privatising Medibank has been a controversial matter since its proposal by the Howard government in 2006, although the former government failed to do so, the Abott government announced on March 26th, 2014 that the company will be sold off through an initial public offering (IPO) in the 2014-15 financial year (Mcllroy 2014). This essay will argue that Medibank Private should be privatised and sold publicly through an IPO for short and long term economic and social benefits. In order to determine the validity of this argument this essay will analyse articles and other academic evidences to first look into Australia’s history of privatisation and a brief history of Medibank Private. The essay will then analyse the conflict of interest the current system generates. Further, it will explore the advantage of privatising Medibank Private, including increasing competitiveness in the market and money generated for other social and economic projects. The Reserve Bank of Australia (1997:7) defines privatisation as the full or partial transfer of ownership of public assets to the private sector (Reserve Bank of Australia 1997). Privatisation gradually increased across the world in the 1980’s originating in Chile, the UK and New Zealand which was...
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...Draft Essay Q. The representation of Indigenous Australians in fiction and non-fiction texts is influenced by a range of factors. The perspectives and representations of Indigenous Australians in fiction and non-fiction texts is influenced by a range of factors. The Indigenous population is often portrayed in ways that strengthen harmful stereotypes. However, there are also a variety of positive outlooks and portrayals expressing their strengths and achievements. These texts were studied in Year 8 English and can be demonstrated by the ‘Crow Country’ novel by Kate Constable, which allows for both historical and stereotyping enrichment that discusses the topic of justice. ‘Integration’ poem by Jack Davis stands for Indigenous culture embodiment...
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...Belonging Essay using ‘Strictly Ballroom’ and two related texts Belonging is important in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta and Minh Bui Jones’ feature article, On Home and Haven. These texts show how belonging or to fit into a group and be part of something is essential to human existence and brings more meaning to one’s life. Belonging is about being comfortable with the people you interact with and the environment you find yourself in. A need to challenge culture is seen in all three texts. ‘Strictly Ballroom’ is set in a surreal world of hyperbole and all of the characters are exaggerated stereotypes. Those who hold the power in the ballroom dancing world, value tradition and would do anything, even corruption, to prevent individuals from rebelling against the ‘norm’. The traditional world of ballroom dancing gives them a sense of belonging, and they do not wish for this to change. In the scene where Scott is dancing his own steps in front of the mirror, conveying that he does not want to belong to the ‘norm’ of ballroom dancing, the mirror is seen as a symbol of self-expression as Scott uses it to watch himself dance his ‘non-federation’ steps. He dances in his singlet and black pants, an expression of true self contrasting with the flashy colourful ballroom dancing costumes. The bright yellow, pinks and blues in the costumes highlight the significance of appearing extraordinary. Scott dances in and out of the frame, demonstrating...
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...to privatise Medibank. There are many valid arguments for and against privatisation and the governments decision to privatise Medibank along with other former Government Business Enterprises. This essay seeks to demonstrate this. What is privatisation? The transfer of ownership, property or business from the government to the private sector is termed privatisation. The privatisation of a public organisation will involve either the sale of government held assets or removal of restrictions that previously prevented private individuals and businesses from participating in a given industry. Public organisations, such as the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), SBS and the Bureau of Meteorology are developed by the government to provide specific services to the public. These organisations are owned by taxpayers and there is not generally a focus on profit making. On the other hand, private companies are said to be more efficient than public companies because they must make a profit. Just like the public companies, private firms provide a range of valuable services to the public. There are both advantages and disadvantages to privatisation. Some people argue that it’s important to keep services in the hands of the public so the government can assure that every Australian citizen will receive an affordable service. On the contrary, the argument exits that the government should step back and let businesses take care of the needs and wants of society. It is argued that...
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...LAW BALANCING COMPETING INTERESTS IN CORPORATE CONTRACTS I. Introduction As an abstract entity, a company can enter into contracts[1] only as a principal through the actions of a natural person (agent) exercising powers within the company’s express or implied authority.[2] Since outsiders and shareholders rarely transact directly, the agent may act opportunistically for their personal benefit.[3] Therefore, the appropriate objective of the law may be balancing in allocations of the risk of fraud and the costs of its avoidance.[4] In other terms, the rule must balance between the business convenience[5] for the outsider and commercial morality factors[6] to prevent fraud.[7] This essay attempts to answer whether the Australian law has got the balance right by analysing the issues relating to remained uncertainties in current statutory provisions. II. Innocent Parties According to the general law of agency, the contract will not bind the company if its agent or organ enters into the contract without actual or apparent authority.[8] This may have harsh outcomes for the outsider who may suffer significant loss (e.g. cases of loan transactions). Therefore, outsiders are always in risky position because of uncertainty of the agent’s authority to enter the contract and unawareness of company’s internal irregularities. On the other hand, if the contract would be binding to the company, the shareholders, who have not authorised the agent to enter into that contract...
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...both sides of the issue Language Summary: ways of showing that you are aware of the opposing opinion Working out the main premise from a paragraph Using connectives and problematising phrases in a paragraph Putting together a paragraph for an argumentative text Choosing your own premise and writing a paragraph Converting an informal text into a formal text Sorting arguments into topics and paragraphs A longer model argumentative essay Getting an overview of the model essay Identifying the main premise, paragraph structure and paragraph topics The internal organisation of the paragraphs - revision Including a paragraph that only presents supporting arguments Writing introductions to argumentative essays Writing conclusions to argumentative essays Writing your own argumentative essay - 13 steps to take from start to finish Appendix 1. Language summary: structure of paragraphs in the body of an argumentative essay Introduction Welcome to Writing Argumentative Essays, a unit of curriculum which aims to teach students how to write short argumentative essays of...
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