I'm trying to gauge opinion from those here on the forums about a subject that was explored in New South Wales and voted on in the '60s: a formation of a new state in the northern part of NSW. For those who care to read about some recent history, a piece has been written here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Eng...State_Movement
NSW, like other states in Australia, is made up of regions and people who identify themselves as Australian but want greater representation. Australia existed as the colony of New South Wales as we all know and then Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and finally Queensland each seceded from NSW for the same reasons.
Come Federation time, the colonies joined to form this country. Also a constitution was written to protect the citizens. Part of this constitution allows the formation of new states, as the population grew, to be formed from existing states or a combination of existing states. Chapter six of the constitution explains this:
http://australianpolitics.com/articl...r-6-new-states
There are certain parts of Australia that want a greater say in how they are governed. Take North Queensland as an example. A new political party, the North Queensland Party, formed to better represent the people of that region in what is a large geographical area that has to compete with the South East of Queensland for its share of services, spending etc.
There are now murmurs here in the north of NSW about the revival of the establishment of a new state of New England. Here in the Hunter Valley, we are putting in a greater percentage of what is being returned. Our political masters in Sydney treat us as a bunch of hill billies. They allow big business to take land off our farmers for natural resources and they reap the royalties but will not reinvest that money back into the community from where it came. The constant meddling in local affairs by overriding local council decisions by those who govern in Sydney without any consulation or due consideration. This is just a couple of many issues that have revived old feelings.
I have no bad feeling for people who choose to live in Sydney. It is truly a great place but our politicians choose to pork barrel within the Sydney basin rather that regional parts. I believe it is time to revive discussion and thought about this issue for other persons here that may or may not believe the same as me.