Summit of jargon

Peter Farago
DELEGATES to Geelong’s 2020 Summit have sent a massive list of ideas to Canberra ahead of the Labor Government’s own Australia 2020 Summit.
But some of the recommendations in a communique to be sent from the office of Member for Corio Richard Marles raise eyebrows.
A summit the size of Geelong’s was always going to create a massive list of items to discuss but some would have people scrambling for their dictionaries. Others propose massive constitutional changes that no doubt would take at least until 2020 to iron out.
The first is intriguing: rationalise the division of powers and responsibilities between the Commonwealth, the states and local government to assist in the development of the nation.
Doesn’t the Constitution of Australia do that? Well, almost, except that councils aren’t mentioned, quite rightly, in the document that formed this nation.
But it would be great to be a fly on the wall of the meetings to decide which level of government had responsibility for health and education, two of politics’ great footballs.
Another recommendation from Geelong is an example of bureaucratic gobbledegook that many pundits hope doesn’t emerge from the Australia 2020 summit: “regionally responsive governance partnerships for the implementation of sustainable growth principles”.
Say what?
Even Kevin Rudd, himself the master of incomprehensible jargon, would need a map and a compass to understand what that’s calling for.
And here’s a biggie: “Review the tiers of government”.
To achieve what? There needs to be some context here.
Do the authors of this idea mean to get rid of state governments to end duplication or make local councils a thing of the past?
Another jargon jumble begs the question of who’s after a job: “Foster local communities as a resource through the establishment of self-employed and paid co-ordinators who carry out the wishes of local groups”.
But there are some sodas like “include incentives and remove disincentives to personal and business growth”, “emphasise value adding, in particular support innovation, enhanced assistance to exporters to develop markets and give further incentives to businesses to train and invest in research and development” and “implement a national education system”.
There’s no doubt that regional summits like Geelong’s last week will stir up some great items for debate. But if this communique is an example of what Mr Rudd’s Australia 2020 Summit is going to churn out, then it’s going to turn into a nightmare for the government.
Getting the best and brightest to put up ideas is one thing but reinventing the wheel and calling for whole-of-government solutions won’t create a new Australia for the 21st Century.