Elizabeth
Harmonisation is an amazingly ufesul word for the authoritarian because it can mean so many different things to so many different people. Linguists and propagandists would put it into the category of words known as weasel words. With harmony, the authoritarian can gently and sweetly say that we are just going to harmonise this and that. Give the herd the impression that A will happen, but in reality they mean that the less obvious B will happen. And when the herd finds out and jacks up, because you said harmonise, you can defend your self with that was the plan all along and how dare these objectors waste the community’s time now'.Sticks and carrots are offered to induce the herd down the path of authoritarianism dressed up as harmony. Sticks like pulling federal money, and carrots such as better mutual recognition and licensing. But when you read the fine print on the packet, the bribes will likely turn out to be empty and valueless and bad for your economic health.Lets stop bulls***ting each other and banish the word harmonise from the regulatory lexicon and restrict it to the music trade where it’s meaning is at least clear and precise.OK, so the States and Territories have different legislation. If you are a multi-state business you should by now already have uniform internal procedures & processes that assimilate the requirements of OHS legislation as well as a great deal of other legislation (yes there is more than just OHS) and a very wide range of other information that could never be the subject of regulation. And If you don’t, grow up, get help to think and act for yourself and stop waiting for mummy or big-brother to tell you what to do to deliver safety. I think it’s fair to accept that real federal OHS legislation that replaces all State OHS legislation, is impossible. But moreover, it is probably even undesirable, because regulatory competition between States through varied legislation has indeed kept some authoritarian cultures in check. And that alone was a very big national benefit that far outweighed any disadvantage from jurisdictional dis-harmony. Australia would get more bang-for-buck if top level economic oriented regulators, and not authoritarian inclined technocrats, instead simply identified the one, two or three most offensive bits of each State regulation or process and worked to bring them more back into economic sensibility to solve real and precisely stated problems. The laws may never get harmonised but as Les so rightly pointed out, does it matter?
Elizabeth Harmonisation is an amazingly ufesul word for the authoritarian because it can mean so many different things to so many different people. Linguists and propagandists would put it into the category of words known as weasel words. With harmony, the authoritarian can gently and sweetly say that we are just going to harmonise this and that. Give the herd the impression that A will happen, but in reality they mean that the less obvious B will happen. And when the herd finds out and jacks up, because you said harmonise, you can defend your self with that was the plan all along and how dare these objectors waste the community’s time now'.Sticks and carrots are offered to induce the herd down the path of authoritarianism dressed up as harmony. Sticks like pulling federal money, and carrots such as better mutual recognition and licensing. But when you read the fine print on the packet, the bribes will likely turn out to be empty and valueless and bad for your economic health.Lets stop bulls***ting each other and banish the word harmonise from the regulatory lexicon and restrict it to the music trade where it’s meaning is at least clear and precise.OK, so the States and Territories have different legislation. If you are a multi-state business you should by now already have uniform internal procedures & processes that assimilate the requirements of OHS legislation as well as a great deal of other legislation (yes there is more than just OHS) and a very wide range of other information that could never be the subject of regulation. And If you don’t, grow up, get help to think and act for yourself and stop waiting for mummy or big-brother to tell you what to do to deliver safety. I think it’s fair to accept that real federal OHS legislation that replaces all State OHS legislation, is impossible. But moreover, it is probably even undesirable, because regulatory competition between States through varied legislation has indeed kept some authoritarian cultures in check. And that alone was a very big national benefit that far outweighed any disadvantage from jurisdictional dis-harmony. Australia would get more bang-for-buck if top level economic oriented regulators, and not authoritarian inclined technocrats, instead simply identified the one, two or three most offensive bits of each State regulation or process and worked to bring them more back into economic sensibility to solve real and precisely stated problems. The laws may never get harmonised but as Les so rightly pointed out, does it matter?