Tom Minear: Amiability of National Cabinet may not linger
Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicates the National Cabinet could be permanent, proving “to be a better way for our federal system to work in the future”. However, politics will likely eventually get in the way, writes Tom Minear.
Opinion
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Coronavirus is changing the way we all do business, and our politicians are not immune.
It was barely a month ago that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders met in Sydney for the 48th session of the Council of Australian Governments.
They decided then and there that COAG, the hub of Australia’s federal system since 1992, was not up to handling the deadly pandemic, so they created a powerful National Cabinet to co-ordinate the response.
It will meet for the 13th time on Thursday and, already, some leaders are wondering whether the National Cabinet should be the new normal.
How state and territory governments interact with the federal government is typically an issue that concerns academics, mandarins and political tragics, not ordinary Australians.
But this bureaucratic architecture is the glue holding our country together right now, and as Morrison noted this week, the National Cabinet has our federation working better than ever.
Australia’s prime minister does not have the power to make nationwide decisions like Boris Johnson in the UK or Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, who do not have to contend with state governments to get their way.
Morrison could not have ordered the closure of pubs and bars — he needed the states and territories to regulate and enforce that.
That’s why the National Cabinet makes sense to streamline our federal system to handle this crisis, instead of allowing it to cause even more problems seen in the US.
President Donald Trump’s failure to assert federal control has left states fighting over ventilators, medical supplies and protective equipment, causing major supply issues and forcing up costs.
To get a sense of the chaos, spare a thought for the Illinois officials who tracked down 1.5 million masks in China through a middleman in Chicago, only to be told they needed to come up with $5.4 million within hours because other bidders had surfaced. A bureaucrat jumped in her car, raced down the highway and handed over the cheque in a McDonald’s car park with just minutes to spare.
Australians should be thankful our leaders have put politics as usual on hold and found a way to work together.
That’s not to say the National Cabinet has been perfect.
Victoria and New South Wales caused confusion for business owners by initially pushing publicly for a shutdown of all non-essential activity, which was pared back by the National Cabinet to consistent, staged and targeted restrictions.
The cabinet also dithered for too long on measures to protect residential tenants before leaving it to the states to sort out, which has left some renters and landlords in the lurch, particularly as a promised eviction moratorium still hasn’t been written into law.
But the National Cabinet has been largely effective in combating the pandemic, and to that end, it should be kept in place as long as the virus threatens Australia on both the health and economic fronts. Morrison has a powerful set of levers to pull — such as border closures, welfare payments and wage subsidies — and these must be used with the states to balance keeping the economy ticking over and ensuring hospitals are not overrun by patients.
It’s something he is mindful of, as he recalled how the Spanish flu was made worse a century ago because the states “all went their own way and fought with each other”.
The Prime Minister also indicated the National Cabinet could be permanent, suggesting it “may prove to be a better way for our federal system to work in the future”. I agree, but I suspect politics will eventually get in the way.
COAG has often been clunky and riven by conflict because the state and territory leaders are in it for themselves, as is their right and responsibility.
The fights we have seen over hospital and school funding in the past will be even more difficult in a post-pandemic world. State governments have been smashed financially, the federal government will be trying to rein in debts and deficits, and the need to guarantee and improve essential services will rarely have been greater.
Premier Daniel Andrews spent $1.7 million of taxpayers’ money during the federal election on ads targeting Morrison and supporting Labor. Does anyone really think he’ll go quietly when the commonwealth is making tough choices and he has to get re-elected?
Morrison said this week he was pleased with how “everything is just checked at the door” by cabinet members, but at some point that won’t be possible, and nor should it be expected.
Australia’s states and territories pride themselves on their uniqueness and independence, and while better long-term co-ordination is essential, each region must also maintain its own identity and priorities.
It would be nice if we could all get on the same page about daylight saving though.
AND ANOTHER THING
The federal government is walking on a tightrope with Virgin Australia. No one wants to see our second airline collapse, but bailing out one business sets a potentially pricey precedent for the economic hibernation ahead. Both sides better get creative, and fast.
Tom Minear is national politics editor