North Queensland wants secession

Secession in Australia, besides that of Western Australia? It seems unlikely, but there you go. A few days ago the issue of North Queensland seeking independence from the rest of the state was on the front page of the Courier Mail.

According to Bob Katter, North Queensland must become a separate state to save the region from economic ruin.

The fight for independence has intensified, with 98 of 100 delegates voting in favour of the motion at a North Queensland Local Government Association meeting last month.

‘‘We’ve had a gutful of the blood-sucking establishment of the south,’’ Mr Katter said.

The independent Member for Kennedy reignited the century-old debate, calling for a referendum on the issue at the 2012 council elections.

‘‘We have been economically massacred in the north ... it’s the tyranny of the majority being in south-east Queensland - the winner takes all,’’ Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter said the money earned from the daily toil of north Queensland farmers and miners was funnelled to the crowded south-east corner with no reward for those in the bush.

‘‘The money goes where the votes are,’’ he said.

One must wonder though whether there is an actual concern for the individuals up north, or if this is merely an attempt by self interested politicans to grab more power for themselves. What ever the case, as Lew Rockwell points out,

... a plurality of governmental forms—a "vertical separation of powers," to use Stephan Kinsella's phrase prevents the central government from accumulating power. Lower governments are rightly jealous of their jurisdiction, and resist. This is to the good. In fact, the whole history of liberty is bound up with the glorious results of competing institutional structures, no one of which can be trusted with complete control.

UPDATE: Katter now says he wants Northwestern Australia to break away also.