Every government grapples with a paucity of spare time, and it unfortunately appears Kevin Rudd and his new Labor government have found better things to do than reform Australian federalism.

When Mr Rudd took the tiller of the ALP he immediately stated his desire to address the arrangements between state and federal governments. But while the election campaign was littered with pledges to stop the oft-lamented "blame game", nobody has yet said how that will happen.

One thing is clear – reform needs to happen and the sooner the better. The federal government stands in a bizarre state of quasi-responsibility for roads, health, education and regional projects, while the states have responsibility for roads, health, education and regional projects.

Does anyone else see the potential for costly duplication?

Australia's federal arrangements were set out by the constitution when Australia federated in 1901. In 2007, damaging yet convenient political gerrymandering has reduced those arrangements to rubble.

An infamous leak of a Coalition campaign document recommending the Howard government blame Labor state governments for Australia's ills was nothing less than a blatant exhibition of how the structure of our governments can be exploited for a bump in the polls.

Certainly the Howard government stood at the centre of the acidic decline in federal/state relations when trumpeting their determination to tap the electoral appeal any leader gains for appearing decisive.

Mr Howard interceded most explicitly with his 'intervention' in the Northern Territory and in the bungled Mersey Hospital 'takeover', and more covertly with the Rural Partnerships Program and his pledges of funding for roads controlled by state administrations.

The Mersey takeover began as an experiment for the Howard government's hospital plan, and then the blueprint for said plan despite the fact it was never allowed the time to succeed or fail.

It also became an electoral pattern for the Coalition to stump up at election time with million dollar pledges for popular road projects in the knowledge the money would never be spent because the state government would never come to the party with required contributions of up to 50 percent of the total project costs.

Whether the indigenous, health or water interventions were good policy may never be fully established. Certainly, the Liberal party believed them to be good politics – and no one should imagine a form of this strategy is not practised by Labor as well.
Crying poor never seemed to help services but never stopped Labor premiers, past or present, and the Rudd government will be no less conniving and no less confusing for the average punter.

We all know "the buck stops" with Mr Rudd on hospitals, even though they are run by State governments (and I’d bet will continue to be run by the states for many years yet), but it is so far unclear how hospital performance will be measured, and how much good the $2.5 billion drop in the bucket health and reform package will do.

The ALP stance on the NT intervention remains a controversial work in progress, and how Mr Rudd plans to pat his state colleagues on the back whilst threatening them with the big stick he used in the election will be one of the most fascinating tap-dances of the Rudd government.

It is also interesting to note that states who challenged the Howard government's right to assume control of industrial relations have made little noise about Mr Rudd's program.

Mr Rudd has also made no commitment to junking partnership programs that run roughshod over the traditional arrangements of governance, and his views on Mr Howard's takeover of the Murray/Darling system hardly scream from the rooftops – in fact water could be the most neglected issue of the campaign and the issue where wildcard incoming senator Nick Xenophon does the most good.

One consequence of the sea change sweeping through the Australian political landscape will be an inevitable shift in federal/state relations. The arms-length love affair between "Please sir, can I have some more?" State Labor and the tough love Coalition will turn to an even more intricate and terrible tango as Labor hotfoots its way through the totally buggered state of Australian federalism.

I would contend that Kevin Rudd is very much the clever politician he so adroitly painted John Howard to be. That cleverness must translate to political courage if these absurdities in our governments are to be addressed – and they must be if Australia is to enjoy transparent and efficient government at the state and federal levels.

When things go wrong, politicians will never take the blame. The "buck-passing blame game" is mentioned by politicians of every stripe because it gives them a get out of jail free card whenever something stuffs up and simultaneously paints their opponents as obstinate penny pinchers or profligate ideologues.

Wall-to-wall Labor gives Mr Rudd and his state counterparts an historic opportunity. It should not be allowed to pass. Governments must be accountable to the people, and the people must know the clear responsibilities of their governments if they are to hold them to account.

Photo by: Cath Bowen