The EAP believes that we as a Nation are significantly and intrusively over-governed – with too many administrative levels creating too many roadblocks to true progress and the effective management of our country and our resources.
We propose the removal of the entire State-level political structure from the equation.
This does not include the necessary administrative or functional departments that are required to make the decisions and operate the services that are essential to each State (such as Education, Health, Emergency Services, Transport, etc.) – but the individual State parliamentary structures and processes that create a self-sustaining duplication of effort, a lack of communication, ineffective co-operation, and an over-proliferation of micromanagement, as well as the myriad additional political mouths to feed that has made our existing system cumbersome, excessively expensive, and in many cases ineffectual.
A replacement business administration structure for each State that is answerable directly to the Federal Government would be created, and would operate under the control of a Chief Minister as the head of each State – ultimately fulfilling the role of the States Chief Operations Officer.
This role would be virtually at the next level down from the Prime Minister – but would not be an elected role – they would be appointed by the current Federal Government to manage the operations of each State, thereby making the democratically elected Federal Government of the day ultimately responsible and financially accountable for each States overall performance.
The EAP believes that current political methods in Australia require several basic reforms, the greatest of which is honesty. To this end we propose creating an independent Office of Information that can be referred to by all parties, media, and the public alike for definitive answers and information relating to all governmental operations past, present, foreign, and domestic.
This Office will be intended to provide clear and true representations of information that is so often manipulated and misused by the Main Stream Media as well as politicians to support their own platforms and to discredit others … in short it is to ensure that we as the public know the truth, and can base our decisions accurately on reliable and factual information at all times and in all situations.
We support the introduction of an impartial Speaker of the House to be appointed into Parliament – one that has no allegiance to any party – thereby ensuring unbiased control for all.
We support the linking of political pay structures to the CPI rather than being proposed and voted upon directly by those who financially benefit from the outcome.
Parliamentary pensions and perks are to be dramatically overhauled. The role of a politician was never intended to be a career role where people become millionaires by exploiting funding from the public purse. This practice will be stopped.
Changes will be made to reinstate the same access laws and regulations that govern pensions and superannuation to the general public. Access to lifetime travel passes and other post-employment perks will be significantly capped or removed.
A transition period will be introduced to allow former parliamentarians to reintegrate back into the workforce, and once this period is completed all perks will be discontinued.
Breaches of the legal standards set for all citizens should also hold true for our politicians … any politicians found to be guilty in a court of law of any offence punishable by a jail term, or of significant abuse of power, misconduct, corruption, or exploitation will be removed from their role, have all financial benefits applicable to their position reviewed and subject to alteration, reduction, or revocation, and will be ineligible to run for or hold office again. All legal penalties will likewise apply.
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