[LINK] Off Topic: 2 Why China’s extreme coronavirus controls are unlikely to work elsewhere

[Stephen Loosley]

Tom writes,

> An Australian apartment building body corporate is a sort of capitalist
> commune: a not-for-profit organization governed by a committee which
> issues rules the residents must follow .. It would be possible to make better
> use of the Internet/smart phones to communicate restrictions to the residents.


Agreed. Also local Councils would seem ideally placed for on-the-ground pandemic
community co-ordination.  Aussies are always good at local people caring for locals.
It’s really just your old-fashioned Aussie mateship. And, in a future shrinking energy
conservation planet, with travel and transport becoming more locally concentrated,
then self-reliance may increasingly and necessarily become normal modus operandi.

With travel/transport and multiple pandemic issues on our horizon, but also, as you
say Tom increasing ease of communication, it would seem to make sense to step-up
our locally elected government functions and powers.

It may seem that the traditional balance of power between the three levels of Aussie
governance has become somewhat out of balance lately, and a more even functional
political balance of the responsibilities within our three governance levels is overdue.

If so then we should encourage this to happen, and, relatively quickly. This pandemic
is simply the first of many pandemics our warming-petri-dish world will face in future.

Together with more local manufacturing, less goods transportation and an increasing
need for local care and efficient responsibility around future human health issues, we
will need local government to step up somewhat and in concert with body corporates.

As the Chinese have discovered it takes local governance to have people think and act
locally. If we want team-Australia, which will be increasingly vital, we need strong and
decisive governance emanating from next-door, as well as the state and federal levels.

Cheers,
Stephen