Loading ...Elections
Boganville is having an election in October. Our shopping centres are infested with Politicians wanting us to vote for them. What can we expect in the next 6 weeks?
We are a city of ~330,000 people and we have both State and Local Government rolled into one. The Chief Minister (head of Government) is a well meaning and earnest man who lives within the boundaries of Boganville. He is on the local radio answering questions from citizens each second Friday morning. He gets asked anything from “What will be done about the pothole three doors down the road” to “what is your Government’s stance on the human rights violations that were reported in Abkhazia through Amnesty”.
Imagine having to deal with that range of subject matter.
The ACT voted AGAINST self Government when it was given a referendum in the late 1980’s. Therefore it got Self Government anyway. As a result, we have a Local and State Government rolled into one that must serve the interests of its citizens, the Federal Government and all the Embassies. The ACT must provide municipal (rubbish, roads and rates) and state services (health, education, police etc). It also has to share planning with the Federal Government (who can approve anything it wants in certain areas) but wears all the political damage if anything goes wrong.
Being a territory instead of a State, means that the Federal Government can overturn laws made in the ACT but Federal Regulation (ie no vote in parliament). Embassies and Federal Government Agencies are exempt form rates and a lot of Territory charges but still get looked after. The roads and parkland must be kept up to the standards required of a national capital. Police for escorts and any security when there is an international VIP are paid by the ACT.
The positives are that the Government Agencies provide a reason for people to live here. But that is a double edged sword because Government decisions cause massive surges and declines in demand for housing. The previous Government effectively sacked 8,000 people in 3 months. This led to huge unemployment and a crisis for the ACT Government. Within 4 years, they same Government had increased the number of public servants and those funded by the Government as service providers to the same level as before. Soon after that there was a boom in housing so that you could not buy or rent a house in Canberra for 2 years. It took the recession of 2001 to let things catch up.
In October, we will elect a Government that cannot Govern without fear of overrule and who is dependent on the Federal Government for its livelihood. They will never be able to please most of the people who live here and will probably never be able to achieve financial security.
