The right to use rain that falls on a person’s roof is vested in state Governments by state legislation apparently, writes Greg Cameron.
State governments
US markets plunge as Fed cuts rates
The US Federal Reserve announced its latest 0.25% cut in the Federal Funds rate overnight, but like a bunch of drunks on a bender, the desperates on Wall Street wanted more, reports Glenn Dyer.
Crikey Policy Comparison Pt 2: Housing affordability
The housing affordability crisis has been front and centre of this campaign, and when it comes to the two major parties, it’s come down to the battling for the votes of first time home owners. Each party is promising to help save for that much needed deposit, the question is how?
Australia’s pokies: a tour by numbers
Pokies probably won’t become a hot button issue for the upcoming election, but there has been a recent rise in bad press. Here are some facts and figures on the role of pokies as entertainment and revenue collectors.
Broadband projects an embarrassing, expensive failure
Perhaps John Howard is right – State Governments are stupid. When NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced its ambitious program to blanket Sydney with WiFi coverage, providing it for free to consumers, he explicitly referred to a San Franciscan project as one to emulate.
Exposing the federal and state accounting rorts
Peter Costello was back in the Parliament pushing the big lie yesterday – that the Commonwealth under John Howard “reduced its debt from $96 billion to zero”. In fact, they owe $50 billion, writes Stephen Mayne.
Canberra vs The States, Part XVI
There’s nothing new about John Howard’s centralism. Like most
federal politicians, fighting the states comes naturally to him. But the most recent twist - trying to sell the idea that the states are to blame for upward pressure on interest rates - still comes as something of a
surprise, writes Charles Richardson.
John Howard’s island moments
It was only six days ago that the Prime Minister took a brief moment off from posing for his birthday pics with the troops in Dili to lay the foundations for the damage control that will be necessary should the Reserve Bank actually increase interest rates before the election.
Howard’s federalist legacy
During Mr Howard’s 11 years in office, the move towards making State Governments mere administrative agents has accelerated at a pace Labor’s Gough Whitlam would only have dreamed of, writes Richard Farmer.
