Great to see Senator Dean Smith supporting the “no” vote for Local Government Recognition.
"The referendum … achieves a rare double. It is at the same time totally unnecessary and quite dangerous … The reason the proposal is dangerous is that it would further weaken the system of federalism in Australia at a time when the commonwealth’s financial domination of the federation has already gone far beyond what was envisaged … It would enable the commonwealth to use its financial strength to impose conditions on funding to local government, giving the commonwealth considerable practical control over local councils, while at the same time reducing the role of the states. The current balance between state and commonwealth responsibilities will shift - again - to centralise power in the commonwealth"
NSW Solicitor-General, Michael Sexton SC
