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Old 23-05-2010, 01:29 PM   #7
Brazen
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I have a feeling that this is one of those topics in which people who live in cities will say 'why change it?' and rural and remote people will say 'it needs to change'.

I think with a growing population, Australia grows by 400,000 people every year, looking at how the country is divided is probably a good thing. The current model of having half a dozen capital cities dotted around this vast country where the population and decision-making is focused maybe needs to change.

The problem of having the decision making parliament so far away from the rural areas, is that you get laws and decisions made which have little benefit for how the regional and rural areas live (e.g. applying metro road safety principals to rural road safety laws). Having more states could potentially put more parliaments closer to the action and this could give greater representation to these areas which receive little or misguided government attention.

Living in rural QLD, Brisbane may as well be on the moon as its that removed from how we live and work out here. The lifestyles, challenges, opportunities, and events in metropolitan Australia is a world away from outback and regional Australia. The laws and decisions that apply to me are hardly ever made with people like me in mind. I think more regional or rural zoned states (kinda like the Aussie equivalent to the state of Arizona or New Mexico) would give a lot greater representation to a lot of people.

I am certainly open to public debate in how we govern this land.
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