For information on how to make a submission to the ACCC inquiry into grocery prices, Fraser residents are invited to go to the ACCC website – www.accc.gov.au – or call the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502.

The ALP Advisory Group on Federal-State Reform today released its report on reform to the system of Specific Purpose Payments (SPPs).

Among the range of options was a suggestion to reform SPP agreements to focus on outcomes, not inputs, to encourage efiiciency and innovation in the delivery of services by States.

I confidently predict that John Howard will, at some time during 2007, declare that reform of federal-state relations is a national priority. I expect he will then announce a proposition which will look like a step in the right direction, even though nothing will actually happen.

Question Time should be central to the vital process of holding ministers accountable for the discharge
of their important public duties. On most days, however, it is a farce!

This article on trade policy originally appeared in The Age on 24 July 2006.

Australia ’s alliance with the United States has always had a different character under Labor governments. The key elements remain the same: policy dialogue; intelligence; access to technology; and the distant possibility of the “security guarantee”.

This is a proposal for reforming the structure of the Australian Labor Party. It was written by Bob McMullan, and he has circulated it to ALP Members within the electorate of Fraser.

The recently announced decision to abolish the Board of Austrade is extraordinarily silly and will almost certainly be counter-productive to Australia’s desperate need to improve its export performance, particularly in manufactured goods and services.

(This article appeared in The Canberra Times on 5 January 2006 with slight amendments.)

It is a source of great disappointment that John Howard appears to have rejected out-of-hand the proposition that the size of the ACT Assembly should be increased.

Clashes of wills over the distribution of power and responsibility between the federal government and the states are as old as the nation itself and are common to all comparable federations. And the reasons are not hard to find. They have always had at their core the competing ambitions and priorities of governments at different levels; evolving judicial interpretations of constitutional provisions; fiscal imbalances and conflicting political agendas.

Canberra citizens are being short changed. The Australian Capital Territory has the lowest level of Federal representation in the country. I hope the people feel that the quality of their representation is of a high standard. The problem is the quantity.

There is a long hard road ahead for the federal Labor party to win the 2007 election. But at least yesterday’s caucus decision shows that we are on the road and heading in the right direction at last.

Economic credibility is not something that can be given. It has to be won on the basis of hard decisions. At least this is the case for a party in opposition.

The editorial in The Canberra Times of November 22 was right to call on the Labor Party to focus on regaining its core constituency. Labor can’t win without achieving that. But as society changes so does key elements of that constituency.

There is no doubt that Australia is a better place for Gough Whitlam having been Prime Minister.