Opinion
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Abolish the states, Bob Hawke once said (before he was PM).
They're an anachronism from colonial days, and we'd do just fine with local and national governments, goes the argument.
But while that's unlikely to happen, given Australia was formed as a federation of its states, it seems certain elements in the Commonwealth Government are doing their best to abolish themselves.
Not completely, but in substance. And the elements are rather prominent - like Scott Morrison, today's Prime Minister.
In one of Australia's most difficult years in memory, the nation's leader has been most noteworthy for when he was not there - or trying not to be.
We all remember how he went on a holiday to Hawaii during the summer's bushfire crisis. Morrison's response? "I don't hold a hose." Silly us for expecting a role for the PM. That volunteer firefighter a few PMs ago must have fooled us all.
Then, once the lockdowns started, the PM distinguished himself by being ... at the football.
This week he went further towards invisibility. Asked on ABC TV "Does the buck stop with you as Prime Minister for the litany of aged care failures?", Morrison said: "We regulate aged care, but when there is a public health pandemic ... which whether it gets into aged care, shopping centres, schools or anywhere else, then they are things that are managed from Victoria."
Did he tell the Commonwealth health or aged care departments that their responsibilities have ceased? Or the ministers? Certainly Greg Hunt and Richard Colbeck have been inconspicuous lately.
In fact, it seems Canberra's main contribution on COVID lately has been to criticise the states for decisions they make. Only Labor-governed states, of course. There was no conga line of federal ministers slamming Gladys Berejiklian for her government's handling of the Ruby Princess debacle.
Speaking of which, there was apparently no need for Commonwealth officials to appear before the Ruby Princess Commission of Inquiry, despite being deeply involved. Morrison barred them. For more on this angle of responsibility, see Dr Hewson's piece on our website.
The Feds are also getting out of environmental protection, with plans to cut "green tape" by handing environmental and biodiversity impact assessment back to the states - undoing the agreement that some ecosystems have value to the whole nation.
So please, guvvies: if your responsibility, and leadership, is disappearing before our eyes, could you do the right thing and hop off our TV screens as well? Times are tough. Some people are only just keeping it together. If you're just here for the politicking, I think we'd be better off without it.