In many metropolitan councils women had won 50 per cent of the seats. But more than 80 per cent of the state government appointed commissioners sent to replace elected councillors were men. Democracy was removed in Victoria so local government could be converted into businesses with customers and privatised services. I have visited many country towns in Victoria over the past two years and I have watched in horror at the way in which rural communities have borne the brunt of government obsession with the dogma of the level playing field, the notion that the private sector necessarily does it better and the idea that all endeavour is improved but in a competitive environment. As a teacher, I know that some children respond well to competition, but I also know that every child cannot win.
Some kids never win.
Winning the prize for being the first and only nation to remove protection for its primary products has not excited our farmers. Chicken producers fail to see the logic in GATT if it means we must import poultry from other countries where Newcastle disease is rampant. Our chicken meat industry is one of the most efficient in the world and free from this disease. So is our native bird population so far. Primary producers have cause to be sceptical about promises of support for the bush.