the possible exception of the Federalism Research Centre at the Australian
National University, struck down nearly two decades ago by Commonwealth
fiat, their contribution has not been sufficiently sustained.^1
If this analysis is accepted, even if only in broad terms, it can be seen that a
national debate about federalism in Australia would only be possible in fairly
bland terms. It provides some insight into why discussion of many questions
of public policy is generally superficial.
But what is required is some appraisal of what ideas shape the workings of
the Federation and, in particular, what are the implications, consequences,
and costs of the prevailing equalization creed that all Australians, wherever
they reside, are entitled to the same level of services. This is the point at which
to move to Australia’s‘talent for bureaucracy’and see what guidance it pro-
vides regarding the way federalism is practised in Australia.
6.3 The Talent for Bureaucracy
There are some notable aphorisms about the character of governance in
Australia. A visitor from France in the nineteenth century contributed the
observation about ‘socialisme sans doctrine’. Sir Keith Hancock in 1930
informed readers that Australians view the state as a‘vast public utility’.
There is an illuminating but largely forgotten insight by Alan Davies, the
Melbourne political scientist, in the opening paragraph of Australian
Democracy:
The characteristic talent of Australians [he wrote] is not for improvisation, nor even
for republican manners; it is for bureaucracy. We take a somewhat hesitant pride in
this, since it runs counter not only to the archaic and cherished image of ourselves
as an ungovernable, if not actually lawless, people; but, more importantly, because
we have been trained in the modern period to see our politics in terms of a
liberalism which accords to bureaucracy only a small and rather shady place.
Being a good bureaucrat is, we feel, a bit like being a good forger.
(Davies 1958, p. 3)By way of context, he added:
The pervasiveness of bureaucracy is a feature of most industrial societies, and its
spread, which has been slow and steady, has its roots not only in developing
technology, but also—and especially in its political application—in the modern
demand for security and equality. (Davies 1958, p. 3)(^1) The Australian National University has lately established an Australian Centre for Federalism.
Very academic in disposition, available information about the Centre does little to suggest that it
plans to be a forum for research about the workings of federalism in Australia or for thinking and
debate about federal doctrine and philosophy.
J. R. Nethercote