Speech by Councillor Max Bradley,

Shed a Tier Chairman

2nd Shed A Tier Congress

Canberra, 21 September 2001

Welcome to you all

I am a councillor from the Berrigan shire in the southern Riverina, and the chairman of Shed A Tier. I am a mechanic by trade and have a passion for old cars. My favourite is an old car from early in the nineteen hundreds, its big, has a small motor that runs on any thing inflammable, but really it does not do that very easily. It is made of left over bits from even older machinery that was imported and has not fitted together very well. It has solid tyres that make it very bumpy. It does not go very fast, its very hard to handle, its reaction time is very slow, you never seem to be in control of it, and once it is going in a direction it takes a lot to make it turn around. It has some safety features but they don't work very well, except that every four years it get to have an overhaul. It came with an instruction book, but it’s mostly about how to unpack it. It has had some changes over the years that were to make it work better but it only added more complex systems to the already disjointed and unrelated systems that existed in the first place. It can be very hard to start and it backfires a lot; blows a lot of smoke and even with so many experts around, they do not make it go any better.

Our political system is just like my car, as all the problems are the same, it was developed in an age that is not relevant to this time and place, and many of the bits were imported, it came with an instruction book that has more to do with how to set it up then the day to day running of it. Its big, well huge, its made up of so many systems, add ons, and bits and pieces   that they hinder any progress by working against each other, and cannot get you were you want to go. It is powered by a small number of people. It changes to a different side of the road every now and then. It blows a lot of smoke and hot air and has a lot of costly experts trying to keep it going when it is well past its use by date. Along with my old car it belongs in a museum.

Now we are here today to work towards a political system that is like our modern car, which is small, very cheap to run, it's streamlined. It has many, many safety features that are unobtrusive and are seldom needed, as it is so easy to control. Stops and starts very quickly, and is so easy to steer, its nimble and responsive, and get you were you want to go any were in Australia with ease.  It comes with and instruction book that tell you all you need to know on how to keep it running sweetly, It has no pollution or smoke and it comes with a long warranty, and is made so as people find it easy to use, and everybody wants a new car.

To get to a simple and accountable system of government there is a great need to abolish the state governments.

Thank you