History of conflict: John Howard faced similar problems with the states to those of Julia Gillard. Photo: Chris Lane
It's a delicate balancing act between standing up for your state and not looking like ''an absolute goose''. A deal needs a ''sheepdog'' premier to lead the way. And the idea that there will never be a bruising brawl? Forget about it.
Welcome to the fraught arena of federal-state relations, as described by former premiers and public policy experts.
The battles between the federal government and hostile state leaders - supercharged by the looming national election - come as no surprise to seasoned political watchers.
Professor Scott Prasser, the director of the Public Policy Institute at Australian Catholic University, says it's fanciful to think that there will never be battles.
''It's a bit like saying a married couple is never going to have a fight,'' he says. ''It's just not on.''
Prasser points to the Whitlam government's battles with the states in the 1970s, at a time when the majority of the states were headed by conservative leaders. This period included failed referendums to allow the federal government to take control of wages and prices.
Fast forward to today and Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing battles with states over disability, health and education funding - with some accusing her of meddling.
Last week, the WestConnex toll road for Sydney's west and powers to target gangs were added to the list of growing fights between the two levels of government.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell argues Gillard is spoiling for a fight with the states, while the new Victorian leader Denis Napthine is hoping to improve relations.
Although bickering has played out throughout the decades, Prasser and former premiers, including Queensland's Peter Beattie, are concerned about the increasingly interventionist approach taken by the federal government.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr, himself a former NSW premier, recently fuelled debate by calling for leaders to ''get serious'', strip back the Council of Australian Governments agenda and give the states more power.
Prasser says the expected change of government later this year makes it harder to secure a deal on issues such as the Prime Minister's signature reforms to overhaul school funding.
Gillard has vowed to seek agreement with the states and territories at next month's Council of Australian Governments meeting, but conservative states have decried a lack of detail and Queensland went so far as to tell the Prime Minister to ''give up'' on the Gonski plan.
''Everyone knows this government is basically finished, so why sit down and negotiate with a government that you know is on the way out, most probably,'' Prasser says.
''They'll go through the pretence of sitting down with them … but they know the real deal's going to be with the next government.''
Beattie, who served as the Queensland Labor premier from 1998 to 2007, agrees it is harder to strike a deal in the lead-up to an election, but says the public pressure on state leaders to avoid dragging their heels should not be underestimated.
''If the public see a premier is behaving like an absolute goose, they still have to live with that back in their states,'' he says.
''It's pretty hard to go out and argue against disability funding, for example, and not look like a goose.''
Federal Schools Minister Peter Garrett says people hear critical ''one-liners'' in the federal-state education debate, but points to achievements such as the national curriculum.
''I think that with co-operation and putting the interests of students in schools at the heart of what we want to agree, we can get a deal in place at COAG,'' Garrett says of the Gonski school-funding plan.
''And while we've seen states and territories make a variety of public statements and expressing reservations or putting up at last-minute plans … generally we see officials who are continuing to work with our [officials].''
The former Victorian premier John Brumby says there is often a lot of debate and argument between governments before deals are done.
He recalls being a federal MP in the 1980s when the Hawke-Keating government pursued big cuts to trade tariffs. ''There was huge community debate because in my old electorate of Bendigo, we used to have more than 3000 workers in textiles, clothing and footwear,'' Brumby says. ''There'd be lucky to be 300 today, so it's been a huge adjustment. It wasn't without controversy.''
Brumby, now chairman of the COAG Reform Council, also points to John Howard's efforts to rein in gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
''People think the gun laws just went through and it was easy. It wasn't, actually.
''It entailed a big commitment from the states, significant administrative expenditures … and of course there were big debates within political parties.''
Looking at the current political environment, Brumby wants a ''sheepdog'' premier to show leadership with his or her state and territory colleagues. That person would lead the pack and drive economic reforms crucial for the Asian century.
He adds that there can be agreements struck across political boundaries.
''I think it's always more difficult in an election year, but having said that don't forget in late 2006 John Howard agreed to what was really the forerunner of the national reform agenda and he agreed with mainly Labor states,'' Brumby says.
''It was possible to get agreement even though the likelihood was the Liberal Party wasn't going to be back for another term.''
But some commentators see a deeper problem.
Prasser says the Howard government strongly intruded into state matters and then the Rudd-Gillard governments have also seen themselves as ''the saviours of the world'' to fix all problems.
He points to crime, transport, education and schools as areas that have seen greater federal involvement.
Beattie says successive High Court decisions have stripped away the powers of the states and the overlapping of responsibilities ''is always going to be the basis of tension between the federal government and states''.
He says the ability of the national government to override the states causes enormous waste, citing the Rudd government's decision to block Queensland's controversial Traveston Crossing Dam on environmental grounds.
Beattie says locals in south-east Queensland's Mary Valley who had already had their properties resumed ''went through all that heartache and pain for nothing''.
In the lead-up to the Coalition's 2007 election election loss, Howard argued the public increasingly looked to the national government ''to plug the gaps and to respond where state and territory governments aren't doing a good enough job''.
It came as Howard announced the federal takeover of the Mersey Hospital in Tasmania.
In a more recent health funding brawl, the Gillard government last month sought to end a war of words with the Victorian government by vowing to channel $107 million in funding directly to local health networks, bypassing state bureaucracy.
Beattie says there will always be public squabbles between different levels of government, but voters should be thankful because they help stimulate community debate.
''You'll always get that. There's always going to be a bit of argy bargy and we shouldn't get too worried about that. Democracy is best with competitive tension and competitive argument,'' he says.
''We take that out of the system then, frankly, democracy's not going to work particularly well.''
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