Voters love local governments but want to get rid of them

The performance of the federal government was rated good by 39 per cent. Thirty-one per cent said the federal government’s performance was poor, of which 15 per cent – the highest of any level of government – rated as very poor.

Despite endorsing their local council, respondents were more likely to agree that they should be axed.

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Asked which was the least needed layer of government, 27 per cent picked councils while 26 per cent said it should be state governments on the chopping block. Just 9 per cent said the country could survive without federal government.

Local councils are by far the biggest source of elected officials in the country. There are 226 federal MPs and 599 state politicians compared to 4755 local councillors, mayors and shire presidents.

Labor voters (30 per cent) were more likely than Coalition supporters (23 per cent) to believe that councils were the least needed level of government. However, Liberal and Nationals supporters (29 per cent) were more agreeable to ending state governments than Labor voters (23 per cent).

Across all voters, there was a high degree of uncertainty, with 38 per cent of respondents unsure or having no preference on which level of government should go.

But those surveyed were much more assured when it came to how government should work together.

Just 4 per cent disagreed with the proposal that laws, regulations and taxes should be harmonised so that they are consistent across every state. Seventy-three per cent of people agreed with 31 per cent, saying they strongly agreed.

Another 23 per cent said they were neutral or undecided.

The most recent meeting of federal and state treasurers agreed to an overhaul of occupational licensing regulations, initially in the electrical and engineering areas, so that certified workers can easily move between states and territories.

On top of changes to the harmonisation of regulations relating to household electrical goods such as toasters, building and construction rules, states have been offered cash out of the federal government’s $900 million National Productivity Fund to fast-track reform.

This masthead’s report into the federation revealed deep dissatisfaction among state premiers about policy areas in which responsibility is often shared with Canberra.

These included health, aged care and education, into which the federal government has gradually encroached into over the past 70 years.

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The survey found 58 per cent of people wanted policy areas to be the sole responsibility of one level of government, with just 9 per cent disagreeing.

Forty-seven per cent of people agreed that state governments should deliver services without the need for elected representatives or parliaments. Such a move would upend states that would effectively become unelected, bureaucracy-led administrations.

A third of respondents were neutral or undecided about such a change that would also face almost insurmountable constitutional hurdles to ever come to fruition.