The Reform of the Federation White Paper has re-enlivened an old debate in regional communities – asking whether Australia needs more states.

Nationals MP and Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says a large part of northern New South Wales and south Queensland should be broken off and formed into the state of New England.

Mr Joyce, the member for the electorate of New England, says the unique challenges and industries of rural regions are not adequately represented in their metropolitan capitals.

It is a frequently-heard opinion in many outback areas, and the flow of funds and royalties often show that rural areas get little back from their proportionately high contribution to state coffers.

The idea of self-government for New England region specifically has been around for about as long as the NSW/QLD divide.

A plebiscite on the issue was narrowly defeated in 1967, but Mr Joyce says it is time again to ask if the lines drawn in 1901 were still appropriate.

“The first thing the White Paper says is; ‘Let us have a discussion about the fundamental aspects of federation’. Surely this is one of those fundamental aspects,” Mr Joyce said.

“Why are the arbitrary lines on a map of 1901 are still the best lines on the map in 2014?”

“In 1901 we just got stuck in a bog.”

He says American governments have it right.

“Canada had 10 provinces and territories,” Mr Joyce said.

“Many of the new states in the US were rural based states, such as Wyoming and Nebraska, and they did that to give the people a greater say in the laws that actually affected their lives.”

There may be room for division in several of Australia’s massive regions.

“If we just go with New England it’s going to be very hard. We have to take other areas of our nation with us, such as north Queensland, Central Queens-land, the Riverina; we have to have it as a wider, more encompassing debate,” Mr Joyce said.

“If we just go alone we’re easy to pick off, but if we hunt as a pack it’s going to be harder (to do that), and the reason this is pertinent now is because there is a federation white paper.”

Queensland MP Bob Katter has pushed for new states before.

Katter says North Queensland should be its own state, given its big population and remoteness from the capital.

He points to the combined population of 514,046 for the Townsville and Cairns regions compared to Tasmania's 510,519, saying it “screams out for a separate state”.

“I have long argued for [a separate state] north from Rockhampton,” Mr Katter told the Townsville Bulletin in 2012.

The call by Barnaby Joyce this week has ignited a big debate by commenters in the Armidale Express, pitting regional rivalries together in an argument over where the new capital city might be.