Congratulations on suggesting how the States should and could dump
Canberra. Please also note, however, if the states forced the
super centralist Howard Government to remove duplication by Canberra
there would be another $20 billion out there that could be returned to
taxpayers.

It’s time that Canberra was cut down to size and the only way it will
happen is for the premiers to get together and do it. May I suggest as
a first step that each premier changes his title to Prime Minister of
their respective State – so Dr Gallop would be the Prime Minister of
Western Australila, Prime Minister Bob Carr would head up NSW, and
Prime Minister Peter Beattie etc.

That would make John Howard one of eight prime ministers on the
Australian continent – I’m sure that would help him see himself in
context when looking into the mirror each morning.

This is not such an outrageous idea, I should strees, Jack Lang, the
premier of NSW, referred to himself for a long time as the Prime
(first) Minister of NSW.

But with all that said I’m willing to bet that the Labor premiers, or
would be prime ministers, will not have the guts to reform the
Australian federation to what it was initially envisaged to be.

Income taxing powers
Another subscriber has asked why the states can’t just reintroduce
incomes taxes like before World War II. The answer is that the High
Court specifically ruled that they couldn’t after the war.