6
Australia’s‘Talent for Bureaucracy’
and the Atrophy of Federalism
J. R. Nethercote
This chapter has its origins in a call prior to Australia’s general election of 2013
for a national discussion about her Federation, a call that arose from the view
that there was much scope for improvement in the workings of Australia’s
Federation. But this call for such a national discussion immediately, and
instinctively, gave rise to a question as to whether it is even possible to have
a real debate about federalism in Australia.
The chapter argues that informed discussion of federalism is frustrated on
two grounds. First, the intellectual fabric of the country, whether in law,
history, political science, or economics, turns a blind eye to its federal charac-
ter and the pervasive federalism in the ordinary life of Australia. A major
reason for this deficiency lies in the continuing influence of British ways on
Australian thinking. Second, federalism in Australia is weakened by the
force of bureaucracy, and the bureaucratic habit, in Australia’s governance.
Governance of Australia’s Federation is too much a case study in Australia’s
‘talent for bureaucracy’.
6.1 Federalist in Spite of Itself
Australia is one of the oldest federations in the world. Moreover, much of the
country works on federal principles, in the sense that many country-wide
organizations are state-based; national bodies are composed, often on the
basis of equality, of delegates nominated by state branches.
The idea that membership should be represented according to numbers is
much less frequently in evidence. Indeed, an important illustration of this