Governance at the heart of reform in remote Australia
Governance at the heart of reform in remote Australia Conference Paper
12th National Rural Health Conference: Strong Commitment Bright Future
- Author(s): Fred Chaney, Bruce Walker
- Published: 2013
Abstract: Over the past 30 years, Australia has become the most urbanised continent in the world. Australia’s view of itself has shrunk to its coastal fringe where 85% of our population now lives within 50km of the coastline. And our system of democracy and national economy has progressively been altered to serve the coastal areas and the large mass of people in urban Australia. This has been at the expense of how remote Australia and its people and communities are governed, leading to a crisis in governance, and an urgent need for systemic change in the bush. In that respect the impact of the ‘bush vote’ in the recent NT election did not go unnoticed in commentary around the change in government. But in many respects it was predictable. The success of the ‘Royalties for Regions’ initiative in WA, and the impact of the regional Independent members in the formation of the current Federal government all point to a wider disaffection emerging from regional and remote Australia.
- Urls: https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/12nrhc/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Chaney-Fred_Walker-Bruce_ppr.pdf
- Publisher Location: Adelaide