Canberra centralism

Oh no, Peter Costello is pitching to sharpen again.

The reason why centralism is such a dopey idea is because Canberra does not have a monopoly on all good ideas and all capable management. The different states act as a laboratory for different policy possibilities without being so freakishly different as you'd get under a two-tier system. Interstate ministerial meetings (which often include NZ officials) should be knowledge-sharing forums. This would avoid the cant around stem cell research in the above article, not to mention that about Aborigines (as if things would be different under a Costello government. As if they'd be better). It is no bad thing that the Federal Government is limited in its scope for action.

It's significant that Kim Beazley is being very quiet about this - he'd do the same thing if he could, but a) he won't and b) the entrenched Premiers would have him as surely as Bolte and Askin had Gorton.