Mark Hill . # .

Centralisation IS bad...: Centralisation in a market based, social democracy like Australia does some awful things. The rural tax base contributes to the increasing economies of agglomeration in the cities. It is simply distortionary and our old colonial borders often do not make sense.

There is ongoing debate over whether State or \"regional\" Government works best - I would propose giving areas representing potential states/regions a choice in what form of Government they may like to take. States will continue to have local Government, regions (province sounds less generic) would combine local and state Government. Both would be treated as States Federally.

To give an example, the county of Cumberland (greater Sydney) may be better off as a province/region but the Riverina or Tasmania may be better off as States as there is a need for decentralised local Government functions.