The best-designed policy in the world is meaningless without a healthy democracy. Democracy is not simply a checklist of institutions such as regular elections or an independent judiciary. Rather than a final destination, democracy should be seen as the task of continually expanding the power of citizens to influence the decisions that affect their lives. The Centre for Policy Development’s Democratic Renewal program looks at how Australia can approach that task in new and innovative ways.

Suffer the little children – asylum seeking kids in Australia

Right now there are 628 children in immigration detention. The new Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, would have you believe that these children are not really being detained. On the ABC’s Q&A program recently, he said that “There’s no children in detention centres as such, so there’s no children behind the razor wire.” As though the absence of razor wire alone can make detention humane or acceptable. Of course, the notorious Baxter detention centre did … more

John Menadue’s sizzling critique of the media

The Centre for Policy Development’s founder, John Menadue was at the New News Conference in Melbourne recently. While there was much talk of how digital media is revolutionising the way we create and interact with news, John reminded the audience that while Web 2.0 may be exciting, content remains the critical issue. And we have still some way to go in working out how to resource and support those content-makers (this is an issue beyond … more

 

Limited choice has made for a confusing outcome

Australia has voted and the results are still difficult to interpret. Eva Cox, steps back to take a look at what our options as voters really were and what the take home lessons for our political leaders should be if they want an improved campaign and outcome next time. Does a tied vote for the major parties show that the voters are evenly divided, or is that most can’t see enough difference between them? The … more

Government Advertising: public interest or party interest?

Suddenly, everyone seems interested in controlling federal government advertising. Kathy MacDermott looks at where the major parties sit in relation to this and the opportunities for reform the current situation provides. Reform to government advertising is part of point 7 of the Independents’ seven key demands. The Prime Minister has undertaken to pursue such reform, and the Leader of the Opposition has said that he is at least happy to consider it. Mr Abbott’s comment … more

CPD thinkers contribute to a blueprint for renewing Australian democracy

The election result demonstrates Australians do not like the way their political system is working and provides an opportunity to put forward a blueprint to change it. CPD thinkers – Miriam Lyons, Ian McAuley and Marian Sawer – have contributed their ideas to a GetUp! report, A Blueprint for Australian Democracy: This Moment and the Renewal of Parliament, Government and Elections. The report is being sent to all members of the House of Representatives and … more

 

Election promises on boats will not pass parliament

In the lead up to the election, we saw both major parties making policy pledges to stop asylum boats. Kate Gauthier looks at the numbers in a hung parliament and considers whether either major party can live up to their election promises. Pledges to stop the boats were made from both the major parties seeking votes in marginal seats during the election campaign. The Coalition promised to bring back Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs), reopen the … more

Dear Julia & Tony: some ideas on governance

Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have a huge task ahead of them over the next few days – a burden made heavier by the poor level of secretarial support successive government have provided. So we thought we could lighten their load by drafting a template letter to send to the two contenders: Dear Julia/Tony Thank you for your interest. I’m sorry it’s taken you three years to find my E-mail and phone number, … more

What next for the two party system?

The assumptions which underpin the two party system do not reflect contemporary political reality. What particular challenges does this create for policy makers, asks Ian Marsh. This is the second and final in a series of articles on the topic. To read the first article click here. The first challenge posed by the disconnect between the two party system and political reality is absolutely fundamental. This is to create a larger capacity to expose real … more