Too often, referendums have been used to get governments out of a political hole. As they have become more common, political pressure to hold them increases and they become harder to resist.
The No advocates believed that instead of creating an entirely new body at an additional expense, Canberra should fix the bodies that already exist by reviewing what is and isn’t working.
The Proposition 13 vote in 1978 brought in dramatic tax cuts in California and a great boost in economic growth. We should learn from the Americans how to invigorate local democracy.