The media has framed it as violent but the tent embassy protest was basically peaceful. It’s this gross distortion – and the heavy-handed response of the AFP – that warrant criticism, writes Ben Eltham Ben asks whether the protesters were really violent: Despite no arrests being made, no physical harm coming to any of the guests of the ceremony, indeed, … more
Monthly Archives:: January 2012
What would ‘Big Society’ mean for Australia?
Our first major report in CPD’s Public Service research program, The State of the Australian Public Service: An Alternative Report, analysed political commentary and media coverage that, at times, depicts the Australian Public Service as inefficient, large, costly and unwelcome in some aspects of our lives. Our research revealed the disconnect between this rhetoric, community attitudes and the reality of … more
Staying Ahead of the Game: The World’s Best Public Service
Just over a year ago, the Australian Government concluded a major review of the Australian Public Service. Ahead of the Game, the review’s final report, contained 28 actions to help create ‘the World’s best public service’. One year on, what has changed? Later this year, CPD hopes to run public workshops to hear how various government agencies are implementing these … more
Ben Eltham | The National Riot Mismanagement Squad
As the media continues to distort the tent embassy protest, the behaviour of Gillard’s office is under scrutiny. It’s another media debacle for the embattled PM, writes Ben Eltham. “And that’s the real tragedy of the events outside The Lobby on Australia Day. Instead of focussing public debate on the substantive issues of Indigenous disadvantage and the dismal history of … more
IPAA 2012 International Congress | 18-20 September
The Institute of Public Administration Australia’s 2012 International Congress will be held in Melbourne, Australia, bringing together more than 1,000 administrators in one of the largest gatherings of public administrators ever held in Australia. Already the ideas and speakers on the program are impressive. Full details available here. Speaker highlights include: DR SHASHI THAROOR is a former UN Under-Secretary-General and … more
Melissa Sweet | Federal govt urged to withdraw all support for private health insurance
In this article, Melissa Sweet promotes John Menadue and Ian McAuley’s discussion paper on private health insurance subsidies in Australia. With the government debating whether to introduce means testing on private health insurance, the new report urges the Government to withdraw all support for private health insurance, on equity and efficiency grounds. Given that the government has a stated policy of ‘social … more
John Menadue and Ian McAuley | Govt proposals on private health insurance don’t go far enough
Writing in Crikey, CPD founder and board member John Menadue and CPD fellow Ian McAuley give their opinion on government proposals to apply a means test to private health insurance subsidies. Menadue and McAuley call for even more action than simply means testing, suggesting that a single national insurer would provide the most efficient and equitable means of sharing our health … more
Private Health Insurance: High in cost and low in equity
Government proposals to apply a means test to private health insurance subsidies have re-ignited the debate about the role of private insurance. Download the new CPD discussion paper ‘Private Health Insurance: High in cost and low in equity‘ In our present system the vast majority of subsidies disproportionately benefit the well-off. Country people with poor access to private hospitals subsidize … more
Ben Eltham | How Gillard Squibbed On Gambling Reform
The public might support pokies reform but powerful vested interests do not. And if folding on the Wilkie deal didn’t look bad enough, Craig Thomson threw in some extra sleaze, writes Ben Eltham in New Matilda here. Ben takes a look at whether poker reform is dead and how our PM got here: It’s a win for the factions and … more