Opinion Piece - What if some wheels came off Australia’s federal chariot?
What if some wheels came off Australia’s federal chariot?
The Australian, Friday, 11 September 2020
Patrick Gorman
Don’t ignore the threat of Westralia. The dangerous idea of secession has been reignited in Perth and across our state.
Those on the east coast of Australia greatly underestimate the damage this might do to the federation - indeed, it could leave all Australians poorer and angrier.
The secessionist undertones of my state have always been there. The tyranny of distance between Perth and Canberra often leaves West Australians feeling isolated and ignored by our east coast allies, fuelling the discussion.
The west’s healthy scepticism of the commonwealth has been an important balance for state rights. Now I am worried and saddened that we may repeat the mistakes of almost 100 years ago. People who should have known better pushed for the creation of a new Westralia.
In normal times we joke about secession. I feel the joke is over. Scott Morrison acknowledged this when he said “at times it has felt like Australia could break apart”.
We can’t let the health hard border become a symbol for secessionist madness. You can support strong measures such as closed borders to prevent deaths, and still support the federation. But here in WA the community feedback is becoming more separatist by the day
If, like me, you believe in the federation — then start getting ready for the campaign against tearing it apart. We have seen this play out before. Brexit started life a fringe idea. It became a reality while tearing through two prime ministers.
Australia has form in this space already. My lesson of the past 10 years of Australian politics is that anything is possible. A deputy prime minister was booted from parliament for being a dual citizen. Clive Palmer was elected to parliament. The unlikely return of Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull. The Morrison “miracle” win. Anything is possible in the next decade.
No serious politician, federal or state, supports WA-xit. Yet. However, as long as we have politicians that support hydroxocholoroquine, vaccination conspiracies and extreme gun policies, you have to believe it is possible.
Billionaire Queenslander Palmer isn’t helping either. If he is successful in his High Court case then many will run to the secessionist solution. Remember, it was only 2017 that the WA Liberal Party State Council voted for a watered-down secession motion. It was by all reports a lively debate at the party’s state conference with some senior Liberals backing an even stronger motion.
And this year a poll of West Australians showed a third of my fellow citizens wanted to go it alone and leave. A century ago, it was the Spanish flu pandemic stoking east-west tensions.
At a meeting in the Perth Town Hall on March 10, 1919, the target was Victoria, then the temporary home of the federal parliament.
The Fremantle Times reported on the meeting “that Victoria has no other thought than her own selfish commercial interests is shown by its action in wilfully neglecting to notify the other States of the presence of pneumonic influenza within its borders”.
Just 14 years later, WA voted to secede.
The commonwealth saved us from ourselves. What would have happened if WA left the commonwealth following the 1933 vote where 66 per cent of voters wanted to leave?
Clearly, the new state of Westralia would have been an easy target in the world war we faced just six years later. Worse, John Curtin would not have become prime minister.
I have become increasingly concerned in recent months, worried that sub-nationalism will turn into genuine political support for secession. And I am concerned that our friends in the mega-states of NSW and Victoria don’t recognise the shifting political tone in the west.
I was in high school when Pauline Hanson was at what we then thought was the height of her political power. Some 20 years later I now serve in the same parliament with her — where she holds the balance of power in the Senate.
Recent decades have shown us the political power of nationalism. We regularly see how ideas that one decade are seen as radical can quickly become mainstream.
People will say I have a self-interest; we all do. Our people-to-people links are inescapable.
My parents lived in Melbourne for years. My wife grew up in Queensland. I’m not applying for a passport for my son to see his grandparents in Brisbane.
Australians love our diversity. And in normal times we love our island nation. All of it. Australia is stronger together.
Each of us in leadership roles — be they political, community, business or union — need to realise this.
My warning to all politicians, premiers and ministers, to backbenchers and political aspirants: don’t be fooled by cheap, populist ideas.
If, like me, you want to avoid an ugly campaign around secession — set to emerge in the coming decade - then go a step further to proactively listen and engage with WA.
We need to stop treating secession as a joke and prepare to campaign against an angry and active minority.
Patrick Gorman is the federal member for Perth.