Commonwealth - State Financial Relations: A Summary Of Proposals For Improvement

The difficulty felt by the framers of the Constitution as to Commoriwealth-State financial relations has persisted throughout the history of the Commonwealth. Various proposals for improvement have from time to time been advanced. A number of the main suggestions are shortly stated in this article. Certain adjustments as between Commonwealth and States have been made over the course of the years such as the Surplus Revenue Act 1910 and its successors, the Financial Agreement of 1927 embodied in the Constitution, the establishment in 1933 of the Commonwealth "Grants Commission for the relief of any State requiring financial assistance, and the introduction of the Uniform Tax Scheme on incomes in 1942. Information as to, these measures appears in several works on the Constitution and is summarised in the Commonwealth Year Books. It may, however, be of some interest t6 review proposals which have been made but still remain in the realm of discussion.