Federalism and Regionalism in Australia: New Approaches, New Institutions?

Abstract

Australia’s federal system is in a state of flux and its relevance is being challenged. Dramatic shifts are occurring in the ways in which power and responsibility are shared between governments. Pressure for reform is coming not just from above, but from below, as the needs of local and regional communities – both rural and urban – occupy an increasingly important place on the national stage. How will these competing pressures for centralisation and devolution in the structures of federalism be reconciled? In this volume, experts and policy practitioners from diverse backgrounds canvass this uncertain future to conclude that the future of state, regional and local institutions is not only a vital question of federal governance, but must be addressed in a conscious and concerted way if Australian federalism is to evolve in ways that are sufficiently legitimate, effective, efficient and adaptive. This book is structured as follows: Part 1. Setting the Scene: Old Questions or New? 1. Introduction 2. Federalism, Regionalism and the Reshaping of Australian Governance 3. The Political Viability of Federal Reform: Interpreting Public Attitudes Part 2. Drivers for Change: New Approaches to Federalism and Regionalism 4. Towards a Wider Debate on Federal and Regional Governance: The Rural Dimension 5. Rescuing Urban Regions: The Federal Agenda 6. The Challenge of Coastal Governance 7. Adaptive Governance: The Challenge for Regional Natural Resource Management 8. Regionalism and Economic Development: Achieving an Efficient Framework 9. Reconceiving Federal-State-Regional Arrangements in Health Part 3. New Institutions? Approaching the Challenge of Reform 10. Taking Subsidiarity Seriously: What Role for the States? 11. How Local Government Can Save Australia’s Federal System 12. Reforming Australian Governance: Old States, No States or New States? 13. Quantifying the Costs and Benefits of Change: Towards A Methodology Where To From Here? 14. Principles for a New Debate Appendix – Reform of Australia’s Federal System: Identifying the Benefits Abstract for chapter 7 NRM Governance in Australia: a complex federal system Multi-layered, fragmented and ad hoc The current management of Australia’s natural resources is multi-jurisdictional involving cooperative arrangements of the three spheres of government – national, state/territory and local (e.g. Bates 2003; WalterTurnbull 2006). Under the Australian Constitution, responsibility for the legislative and administrative framework within which natural resources are managed lies with the State and Territory governments, who in turn have traditionally devolved some responsibilities particularly relating to land use and development planning to local governments. The Australian Government’s involvement in NRM focuses dominantly on matters of national environmental significance and fulfilling Australia’s international obligations. The laws that are made for NRM matters by the federal government draw their validity from other heads of power in the Constitution, such as taxation power, trade and commerce or external affairs power (HRSCEH 2000). But as Bates (2003) points out: It has been clearly established through a number of decisions of the High Court of Australia, over the past 25 years, that the Commonwealth Government has undoubted constitutional powers to override state decision-making on the use and management of natural resources. In practice, however, since the heyday of federal intervention in the 1980s, political constraints have influenced any decision to use these powers. The Commonwealth and States have now adopted a more cooperative approach to environmental protection and natural resource management … This ‘co-operative’ federalism has been reflected in recent years through the Commonwealth Government basically adopting an initiation and co-ordination role with respect to the development of national policies for resource management and environmental protection (p. 284-5). The shared responsibility between the Commonwealth and the States referred to as ‘cooperative federalism’ is reflected, for example, in the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment which was signed by the Commonwealth and all States and Territories in 1992. The purpose of this agreement was to achieve sound environmental management through a system of parallel and complementary legislation. Under this agreement, consultation between the Australian, State and Territory governments in practice is formalised through ministerial councils, standing committees and a range of consultative committees that also include key industry, scientific and local government representatives. Since the late 1980s, however, a fourth regional tier of responsibility for NRM has been introduced by state and territory governments through a broad range of different statutory and non-statutory arrangements within each jurisdiction (e.g. Bellamy et al 2002, 2003; Dovers and Wild River 2003). Although particular responsibilities can vary according to the legislative environment and the administrative arrangements within a particular jurisdiction, the traditional division of responsibilities between the levels of government, regional authorities and individual land owners in Australia for natural resource management are summarised in Table 7.1. See Table: Typical Division of responsibilities for NRM in Australia Chapter 7 contains useful tables. See page 105 (Figure 7.2: NRM governance-a complex multi-layered and polycentric system - Page 104 (tale 7.1 - Typical division of responsibilities for NRM in Australia)