A statement made off the record will not be used unless it is really good.
Kay Graham's media maxim
Latest Papers
The working papers collection comprises historical papers as well as current ideas and works in progress on some of the major issues and topics of our times.
The Hon. Jenny Aitchison, Minister for Regional Roads and Transport cannot be faulted. In 2025 she was determined to examine problems which had been swept under the carpet for many years, namely the neglect of the heritage listed Hampden Bridge across the Kangaroo River. She came to Kangaroo Valley and consulted with the community. The Minister was determined to find solutions particularly for a community that had been cut off by floods in 2024 and for Valley farmers and other industries dependent on transportation. But it is essential now that the Minister stands back and considers all of the facts as well as the larger economic perspective. The first perspective that she needs to take into account is the fact that short term politics and narrow departmental concerns cannot over ride the overwhelming economic benefits of retaining the Hampden Bridge as a working heritage bridge. Could the Brooklyn Bridge or the Sydney Harbour Bridge be built better now? Undoubtedly, but at what cost and at what larger economic and cultural expense?
Hampden Bridge, reliable, brilliantly designed, iconic and resilient against any flood has become a focal point for Kangaroo Valley.
Locals see it as a ‘bridge for eternity’; but nothing can be eternal without maintenance and care.
Historical Section of the larger 2025 Report by the Save the Hampden Bridge Technical Group (Draft 4.0)
The Whitlam government represented a new era of possibilities and long overdue reforms. It was time! In 2025, 50 years after the maverick dismissal of the Whitlam government that action is universally viewed as aberrant and mistaken. It is time to look beyond and to the future, as Gough implied, when he said ‘nothing will save the Governor General’.
A Mickey Bull had broken down the house yard fence and was snorting and bellowing
around the penned heifers. You could hear him a kilometre away. Magpie Geese was the meal for the night and everyone was gathered for the NRL Grand Final.
On the road from Saint George to Barcaldine there’s a champion! a patron saint for travellors! ever alert for a broken down grey nomad or an over heated radiator.
No matter the problem he’s hopeful, no problem too big or small. If you’re pulled over on the road he will pull up alongside with a cool drink and a kind word.
A diesel fitter by trade he once patrolled these roads fixing road trains as a young man, so he’s seen it all.
Radiator hose burst? let’s see what we can clamp together..
“I have a mate on the other side of that hill who’ll help, I’ll just give him a call”.
It’s Sunday he’s not answering let’s go to plan b.. there must be an old troopy or LandCruiser nearby..
or a pipe..” just clamp two hoses around this”
.. “you have to stay hopeful”
“...i smell victory” were the words he used.
So he raised the crestfallen travellors and showed him it was all right.
“Its not the destination it’s the journey”
By the way along these stock routes there’s a bore every 20k so look out for the signs.
“Come on I saw one just down the road, fill up your containers..” and off we’d go.
I said ‘out here the people are good to my fellow travellors’ but the Saint of Barcaldine went three stops beyond all that.
He said a stranger from the city asked him “why do you live here?” and his reply was “because everyone has a code of helping everyone out- people are good, we work hard and we help each other out”. The stranger shook his head and the Saint from Barcaldine laughed to himself and thought yep people like you don’t live here”.
When the Saint heard we were working for the greater good with no govt support ..he slipped a wad of 100 dollar notes to help the ones less fortunate trusting we’d know just what to do.
“Leave the world a better place” he said and those were his parting words.
For Matt, Amy, Harry & Floss, Barcaldine
The Australian Unity Republic proposes a transformative overhaul of the tax system under the Australian Executive Council (AEC)—a collective head of state comprising the Prime Minister and state/territory Premiers—applying subsidiarity to enhance local decision-making while streamlining national standards. Building on the AEC model from Common Sense (June 2025), Productivity, Republicanism and Improving Whole of Australian Government Efficiency (August 2025), A National Election Day (September 2025), Subsidiarity: Towards an Australian Republic that Improves the Country (September 2025), and Reshaping Honours and Australia's Soul (September 2025), this reform addresses Australia’s tax system’s vertical fiscal imbalance and $6 billion annual compliance cost (Productivity Commission, 2025). Spearheaded by AEC Leaders' Forums, it includes rationalizing federal-state taxes, expanding GST with equity safeguards, phasing out inefficient levies like payroll and stamp duties, and establishing a Tax Coordination Board. Aligned with the Albanese government’s productivity agenda, these reforms could yield $4–6 billion in annual savings, reduce red tape, and boost equity, fostering a republic that makes the country better through fairer resource allocation, local autonomy, and economic growth. Australians will endorse this republic in a 2026 referendum only if convinced it delivers safe, effective improvements—avoiding corruption via collective checks, enhancing subsidiarity for local empowerment, overhauling colonial structures for productivity gains, and enriching cultural life through elder and community investment. Taxation reform exemplifies how the collective head of state enables these outcomes more effectively than the current fragmented system.
The Australian Unity Republic proposes a transformative overhaul of the honours system, shifting it from a colonial relic to a vibrant instrument of national renewal and societal progress under the Australian Executive Council (AEC)—a collective head of state comprising elected leaders. This reform reimagines the Order of Australia by establishing "Living National Treasures" as its pinnacle, supported by substantial stipends to sustain and amplify their contributions, with a strong emphasis on elder knowledge transmission, general community service, arts recognition, and military legacy. Inspired by Japan’s cultural guardianship, New Zealand’s bicultural framework with Māori advisory councils, Canada’s nationalized honours, and the UK’s 2005 transparency reforms within the Commonwealth, the system embeds reconciliation as a core principle, prioritizing First Nations recognition and the preservation of elder wisdom—integrating awards like the Deadly Awards and arts stipends—while aligning with ANZAC traditions and future military honours. Leveraging $25.5–42.5 million in annual savings from abolished viceregal roles, this initiative enhances productivity and social cohesion, addressing the widespread failure to invest in leaders and change-makers whose knowledge and service risk being lost, fostering a republic that makes the country better by empowering them to mentor others.
The Australian Unity Republic is a sovereign, republican Australia where the Australian Executive Council (AEC), comprising the Prime Minister and state/territory Premiers, would replace the Governor-General and state governors as the collective head of state.
Replacing the current ad hoc, uncoordinated Federal system with a collective head of state has several side benefits in addition to enhancing Australian sovereignty and independence. The leaders of the nation and the States would meet together on their own, monthly. This would create an opportunity for a continuous review of Australian democracy and the productivity of the whole of Australian government.
The benefits of centrality and the principles of subsidiarity could be balanced by the AEC. Reforms such as national driver’s licenses, teachers’ certification, child care workers’ registration, Working with Children Checks (WWCC), safety checks, and business registrations and tax reform could be pursued alongside devolution of services to local government levels, the standardisation of local government boundaries, the constitutional recognition of local government, rationalisation of federal-state taxes, and more stable funding for local government.
In addition to formal Head of State functions, the AEC would operate as a tight leaders’ forum, with monthly meetings taking agreed recommendations back to federal and state/territory cabinets for consideration, review and implementation. This paper follows three earlier papers on the AEC model and articulates subsidiarity principles and several possible reforms to enhance Australian productivity, equity, and unity.
Australia stands at a crossroads, it must move to become a Republic in order to modernise and improve the country. This paper argues for a transformative republican model, replacing the Governor-General and state governors with the Australian Executive Council (AEC), a collective head of state comprising the Prime Minister and the Premiers of the six states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania) and two territories (Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory). This model not only severs ties with the monarchy but also repurposes Government Houses as museums for First Nations reconciliation and multiculturalism, aligning with the Albanese government’s 2025 productivity drive to cut red tape and boost economic resilience. As a flagship initiative, the AEC will implement "Unity Vote Day," a national election day on the first Saturday in May every four years, synchronizing federal, state, and local elections to save costs, enhance voter turnout, and foster national unity. This article outlines the Australian Unity Republic, its constitutional framework, financial benefits, cultural significance, and the case for a synchronized electoral system.
