Well, I think I have finally seen enough……..frankly it is time to shake up the majority of our politicians and council senior members……….the other night I came across a new Tasmanian political party that laid out a policy agenda that had vision…..
The vision called for:
a. A fair voting system
b. The use of a systems based engineering approach to developing an integrated sustainable Tasmania at all levels….
c. Abolition of Tasmania’s 28 councils and replaced with 4 councils – North, South, East and West…….the majority of all existing senior councillors and senior positions were removed…….it didn’t really affect the real workers in local councils in the back office, the shopfront and out in the community who all then worked for the larger council to deliver improved services……the improved services were funded through the significant savings generated by the removal of approx 300 senior council positions (who all generally did the same role in each of the 28 councils!!) as well as the larger service contracts jointly released by the four councils to gain economies of scale
d. The senior elected council members of the four councils also represented their electorates in the State Parliament which was already made up of the elected officials….more savings were generated by no longer having to have two local levels of Government
e. Red tape was smashed at all levels, this included one water board, one electricity board under government control and operation….the aim was to provide the cheapest services whilst ensuring capital replacement of assets was planned, funded and occurred. The citizens of Tasmania did not pay profits to these Government run operations. The savings generated form the reinvested profits ensured staffing increased to allow employees to achieve a fair work life balance
f. The Central Highlands project provided water to the midlands which became a significant produce exporter for Asia, in particular China, after 20yrs the revenue from exports in this one area accounted for a quarter of the States Revenue.
g. The State was down to 20% of its 1990 level CO2 emissions by 2070, and these were offset through other investments……the key in doing this was to the increase in Hydro and Wind Power which provided not only all of Tasmania’s electricity at minimal cost (cost of production and capital replacement only) to its citizens (no profit) and exported the surplus………water was also cheap thanks to citizens only being charged minimal cost (cost of production and capital replacement only) with left over water exported to countries suffering from water scarcity….
h. Permaculture principles pervaded
i. Tasmanian residents food mainly came from within a 100km radius of where they lived…
j. A good network of free public transport had been established by 2035, including the state main rail link as well as light rail in Hobart connecting the Channel, Huon through to Southport and Hastings as well as through to Hobarts northern suburbs and east to Tranmere, northern eastern suburbs through to the airport and Sorell
k. All native forests were protected and in appropriate areas a sustainable timber industry began to thrive
l. Tasmania’s produce and aquaculture became world reknowned
m. Tasmania became known as a climate change nirvana
n. The cost savings and increased state revenue ensured that schools were sufficient with quality well paid teachers at only 20 children per class. In addition the states hospitals had all been refurbished or rebuilt, staff paid above their interstate counterparts, including specialists in all fields – a waiting list of two months was the maximum for residents of Tasmania……sufficient well paid police walked the beat, crime did not pay and closure rates for all crimes exceeded 90%….the states unemployment by 2050 had fallen to 4% – less than any other state in Australia….
o. The volunteer and community spirit program excelled…
p. Due to the above Tasmania’s population increased to 1.5 million by 2070
All the above by cutting down to one level of Government and upsizing the council size to that comparable to the UK and other countries to gain economies of scale….
I woke up and realized it was but a dream…..I turned on the TV and saw schools closing despite millions being recently spent on upgrading them, increased politician salaries, less police despite rising crime figures, a health system in chaos, duplication and replication across two levels of Government everywhere…..yep – I live in Tasmania and I reckon it’s about time for a major change…..out with the old and in with the new…
Steve and family live in the Huon Valley. His background is extensive ranging from the oil industry, commercial shipping, diving and aviation industries including running business ventures supporting both industry and Government across Australia and overseas.
