On Friday morning last week I put on the TV in Queensland to catch the final stages of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on commercial television, claimed to be live, revealing Wild Oats XI still well short of the finishing line. At the same time I switched on my laptop only to read that Wild Oats had won nearly an hour earlier – skipper Mark Richards had already claimed “redemption” in the media, drank a “shoey”, and been thrown in the Derwent.

It's an anachronism that Queensland has so much control over a national asset like the Great Barrier Reef. Credit:Gary Cranitch

Not only does this make a mockery of the so-called “live coverage of breaking news” but, yet again, emphasises the continuing stupidity of so many aspects of our Federation – in this case with Queensland having decided against daylight saving, unlike the other East Coast States - NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania. It boggles my mind that we happily persist with a multiplicity of time zones, while China, with a bigger land mass than Australia, has just one time zone.

Sure, this is, in itself, of minor significance. But, at a time in our history where it is perhaps more important than it has ever been to be able to take a national view, and to formulate policy and govern in the national interest, the anachronistic structure and operation of our Federation is a very significant disadvantage and restraint.

Our Federation is “broken”, still dominated (even as adjusted) by the structures set in place against the background of the issues and choices of the 1890s – it is unfair, offers little incentive/reward for efficiency and improved performance, let alone matching the needs, hopes, and aspirations of today’s, and future, Australians.