Governance in Queensland - Essay Example

Order 112609 Governance in Queensland, Australia Introduction: The first question in this respect that has to be considered is whether the is still required to govern the country or development has taken individuals to a level where they are able to govern themselves. In this context, it is useful to remember that the real life performance of even famous Television characters like Judge Judy, available on tvtalkshows.com or other places do not reflect their real character or abilities. The lady, Shiendlin, in real life made a comment during her tour of Australia to promote her books about heroin addicts, a comment that was cheered by the audience, which said that heroin addicts could be given dirty needles so that they could all die. (Palmer, 2003, p. 139) This sort of comments shows that all sections of the society still requires governance, at least to some level, and that can be provided only by a government, though this government can often change due to societal conditions. Analysis: We are discussing about a concept here and the concept is of restorative justice, and that was and has been one of the main themes of discussions made by John Braithwaite. The situation in the world of the current epoch is of a new form of a regulatory government, and the difference with earlier eras is that functions which were felt to be the domain of the government earlier are now being given up for control by private organisations. At the same time, the privatised organisations are being supported through legislature through the state. This is leading to a situation where the functions are being carried out by one organisation while the support is being lent by another. (Braithwaite, 1999, p. 90) This is a sort of an anomaly, and his suggestion was that restorative justice could probably control the resultant problems to some extent. During the early stages of his discussion on the subject, in 1999, he had viewed it as a process which had a lot of similarity with other methods of alternative dispute resolution ideologies like mediation. This was the reason why it was so useful and democracy is enriched when the justice of people and the justice of the law are made responsible to each other. Since the two are inter-related, it is clear that decisions of the state will be influenced by public opinion and to an extent that is the use of restorative justice. The process of restorative justice can be checked in these cases through the rule of law and the rule of law should respond directly to the feelings of people. The opinion of people can be understood clearly from the opinions they express in the restorative justice circles. (Accountability and Responsibility through Restorative Justice) To an extent his opinion has changed and he is now coming out with a writing that clarifies his concept of restorative justice. According to this, the state also has to hold the responsibility for maintaining the restorative justice process and part of this is the respect that has to be shown for the human rights of the victims, for the safeguards of the rights of victims in matters of procedures, ensuring the collection of the opinion of all the persons involved carefully, while at the same time, the state is also responsible for the full financial accounts of the program and also maintain the responsibility for other concerned matters. This matter is supported by other non-state organizations like human rights NGOs, shelters for women, youth advocates, organisations for the Indigenous communities who form a large part of the countries heritage, etc. This makes the non-state organisations also capable to intervene effectively in cases of errors in restorative justice. Even this concept has come out in 2002. (Accountability and Responsibility through Restorative Justice) Thus, the concept is taken as a total system in which the state has a part, but others also have a say. At the same time, certain laws have come, like the Australian Capital Territory’s Crimes - Restorative Justice Act 2004 which have helped the spread of the concept of restorative justice and thus reduce the responsibility of the state in resolving all aspects of conducting the criminal proceedings and deciding on related matters like proof of responsibility, punishments to be awarded and so on. In cases where a referendum is taken, the feeling of the voters is that additional responsibilities also have to be taken up by the government. When it is found that governments are not willing to listen, then the governments can be defeated like the Kennet government in Victoria and a very small victory gained by the Beattie government in Queensland. At the same time, there is a general cynicism of the public as there is an expectation of the media to play an important role in all matters of public accountability. At the same time, there is a general cynicism and indifference to politicians, as the public feels that excesses of bad government can be controlled through the existing capacities of accountability institutions. (Davis; Weller, 2002. p. 173) At the same time, the form of democracy in Australia is different from that in America and that makes it difficult to suggest directly what further changes can be instituted to make it more responsive to public feelings. Changes always take time and the effects are difficult to judge. Many Australian authors like Soul and Dollery have made caricatures as far back as 1999 of the extreme variations in sizes and expenditures of the local governments in Australia though they often consist of similar or even identical duties. The functions of local government are also varied and the main functions involve construction and maintenance of items like roads, bridges, drainage and waste management facilities, regulate buildings, operation of food service organisations, control of animals and noise, management of environment, making community and recreational facilities available, coordination of government services at local level and passing on of information. There are also differences in functions and in only the three states of Queensland, rural New South Wales and Tasmania are the local authorities responsible for water and sewage. (Worthington; Marshall; Dollery, 2003, p. 82) With such a large amount of variation, it is clear that all local authorities do not have the same amount of power. Again the decisions of the state governments have been contested and opposed by the High Court in Queensland. This was when the court compelled the state to stop issue of leasehold and mining tenements so that the interests of the aboriginals could be protected. Even the Prime Minister felt that the court should not involve itself in these matters. The final result was the amendment of the Native Title Act of 1993. For this purpose, there were discussions between the premiers and chief ministers, pastoralists, mining and resource groups as also the National Indigenous Working Group. (Keating; Wanna; Weller, 2001, p. 220) The entire matter may also be looked at from another practical point of view – there were still worthwhile land that could be stolen from segments of society dependent on others. In most of the other developed countries of the world, the division of people into haves and have-nots has been pushed ahead much further. Are the workers of America able to stop the rich from “outsourcing”? Let us now look at one of the involved industries, mining, and the industry itself admits that it has been an industry with a “historical weakness of industry associations”. (Regulation: Enforcement and Compliance) It also states that the industry operates at an international level and is focussed on matters regarding production, and there is little co-operation since there are not much matters of common interest. However, after the incidence of pressure, 10 of the large companies in the world, taken from the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s Mining and Minerals Working Group started the GMI in 1999. This is probably only a defensive measure as a voluntary Code of Environment Management had existed from 1996. The code was administered through the Minerals Council of Australia and started as a strategic move by the industry to head off the threat of further regulatory intervention by governments. (Regulation: Enforcement and Compliance) Now there are a lot of efforts going on to make sure that the code is used in the way it was supposed to be used. This also makes it clear that when people take action, the opposing interested parties are compelled to react. At the same time, the new method that has been used by the society to bring to task the offenders against it is now being diluted and methods of even having community conferencing in Queensland to ward off crime. (A resilient Approach to Crime: Community Conferencing in Queensland) It is good if this reduces crime to any extent, but the principle of restorative justice that has been discussed earlier is regarding social issues and not regarding individual crimes. Conclusion: Removal of injustice is an effort that has been made from the time that society has existed, and the efforts for this purpose has ranged from supplications to God and Kings to even conduct of criminal acts for retribution, but equality among men does not seem to work out. References Braithwaite, John. 1999. Accountability and Governance under the New Regulatory State. Australian Journal of Public Administration. Vol: 58; No: 1; pp: 90-94. Braithwaite, John. Accountability and Responsibility through Restorative Justice. http://www.anu.edu.au/fellows/jbraithwaite/link_documents/papers/Accountability_and_Responsibilty_Through_Restorative_Justice.pdf Davis, Glyn; Weller, Patrick. 2002. Are you being served: State, Citizens and Governance. Allen & Unwin. Jenkins, Craig. 2004. A resilient Approach to Crime: Community Conferencing in Queensland. Presented by Craig Jenkins (Community Conferencing Program, Youth Justice). Victims of Crime Association of Queensland, Australia. 17 May. http://www.restorativejustice.org/articlesdb/articles/4240 Johnstone, Richard; Sarre, Rick. 2004. Regulation: Enforcement and Compliance. Australian Institute of Criminology. Research and Public Policy Series: No. 57. http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/57/RPP57.pdf Keating, Michael; Wanna, John; Weller, Patrick. 2001. Institutions on the Edge: Capacity for Governance. Allen & Unwin. Palmer, Gareth. 2003. Discipline and Liberty: television and governance. Manchester University Press. Worthington, Andrew; Marshall, Neil; Dollery, Brian. 2003. Reshaping Australia’s Local Government: Finance, governance and Reform. UNSW Press. Read More

This matter is supported by other non-state organizations like human rights NGOs, shelters for women, youth advocates, organisations for the Indigenous communities who form a large part of the countries heritage, etc. This makes the non-state organisations also capable to intervene effectively in cases of errors in restorative justice. Even this concept has come out in 2002. (Accountability and Responsibility through Restorative Justice) Thus, the concept is taken as a total system in which the state has a part, but others also have a say.

At the same time, certain laws have come, like the Australian Capital Territory’s Crimes - Restorative Justice Act 2004 which have helped the spread of the concept of restorative justice and thus reduce the responsibility of the state in resolving all aspects of conducting the criminal proceedings and deciding on related matters like proof of responsibility, punishments to be awarded and so on. In cases where a referendum is taken, the feeling of the voters is that additional responsibilities also have to be taken up by the government.

When it is found that governments are not willing to listen, then the governments can be defeated like the Kennet government in Victoria and a very small victory gained by the Beattie government in Queensland. At the same time, there is a general cynicism of the public as there is an expectation of the media to play an important role in all matters of public accountability. At the same time, there is a general cynicism and indifference to politicians, as the public feels that excesses of bad government can be controlled through the existing capacities of accountability institutions.

(Davis; Weller, 2002. p. 173) At the same time, the form of democracy in Australia is different from that in America and that makes it difficult to suggest directly what further changes can be instituted to make it more responsive to public feelings. Changes always take time and the effects are difficult to judge. Many Australian authors like Soul and Dollery have made caricatures as far back as 1999 of the extreme variations in sizes and expenditures of the local governments in Australia though they often consist of similar or even identical duties.

The functions of local government are also varied and the main functions involve construction and maintenance of items like roads, bridges, drainage and waste management facilities, regulate buildings, operation of food service organisations, control of animals and noise, management of environment, making community and recreational facilities available, coordination of government services at local level and passing on of information. There are also differences in functions and in only the three states of Queensland, rural New South Wales and Tasmania are the local authorities responsible for water and sewage.

(Worthington; Marshall; Dollery, 2003, p. 82) With such a large amount of variation, it is clear that all local authorities do not have the same amount of power. Again the decisions of the state governments have been contested and opposed by the High Court in Queensland. This was when the court compelled the state to stop issue of leasehold and mining tenements so that the interests of the aboriginals could be protected. Even the Prime Minister felt that the court should not involve itself in these matters.

The final result was the amendment of the Native Title Act of 1993. For this purpose, there were discussions between the premiers and chief ministers, pastoralists, mining and resource groups as also the National Indigenous Working Group. (Keating; Wanna; Weller, 2001, p. 220) The entire matter may also be looked at from another practical point of view – there were still worthwhile land that could be stolen from segments of society dependent on others. In most of the other developed countries of the world, the division of people into haves and have-nots has been pushed ahead much further.

Are the workers of America able to stop the rich from “outsourcing”?

Read More