Mary's radical 2020 vision ends in tiers

By Letea Cavander COMMUNITY advocate Mary Walsh said one of the most well-received ideas in her stream of the 2020 summit was to abolish the states. "What that did show was the level of frustration people feel when dealing with two levels of government," she said. Mrs Walsh participated in the rural industries and communities summit topic stream at the meeting of minds held in Canberra during the weekend. The community advocate said the state abolition idea highlighted the need for the standardisation of regulations across federal, state and local government. "Regional hubs are struggling to provide services that our areas need and the fact that our area will grow exponentially in the next 20 years means making quick decisions is even more important," Mrs Walsh said. Mrs Walsh said fast decisions could only be made if there was "seamless regulation" amongst the three tiers of government. The former Bundaberg city councillor was not nervous speaking in front of summit participants, but she was aware media had access to every word the participants spoke during the two-day summit. She said now it was a matter of waiting to see how the government used the ideas constructed during the weekend. Mrs Walsh said that overall her experience was positive. The 2020 summit concluded on Sunday afternoon and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke yesterday morning on ABC radio about the need for the three levels of government to be harmonised.