Culture in the New Order

  ‘There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.’ Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1532) One of the key hurdles for the public sector and legislators in heralding in the changes that will make the promise of Government 2.0 successful will be culture change. There’s no question that culture change in … more

Identifying and Managing the Risks of (not) Engaging Online

  As the founders of Bang the Table, a company that hosts and moderates online engagement, we spend a good deal of our time talking to potential clients about the perceived risks of engaging the community online.  This essay reflects what we have learned from that experience about attitudes to online engagement and risks, both perceived and real and then shares some of our thoughts on the best ways to manage those risks. Despite the … more

Case Study: Collaborating with the Crowd for Better Policy Development

  Introduction A feedback loop of innovation in social processes and online tools has presented a new possibility, and in fact, a new reality: complex tasks such as writing an encyclopedia or a city plan are now being crowd sourced. The use of Web-based collaborative communities and tools can use labour, intelligence and interest to develop policy collaboratively, allowing the interests of the public to be better represented and engaged. However, while the tools for such work now exist, there … more

 

Rebooting Australia?

  Australia’s history and unique geography have both played an important role in shaping Australian society and the system of government that supports it. Building on the foundations of Britain’s legal and parliamentary system, local political leaders built the institutions that eventually transformed Australia from a colony to an independent nation. They did it, however, in a way that suited their times and the task of managing a large continent. Can Australia’s 20th century governance … more

Promise versus Practice: the Dilemma of Open Government

  Meet Kevin Page. He is the Parliamentary Budget Officer in Canada. An energetic, smart and dedicated man, Page is one of the linchpins of accountability and transparency in Canada. His job is to prepare reports and analysis for Parliament on the effect and cost of federal government initiatives. That job exists because the then-opposition Conservatives, handed scandal and corruption in the final years of the previous Liberal government, campaigned on accountability and transparency. They … more

Case Study: South Australia’s Plan for Open Access Government

In the wake of Britain’s recent expenses scandal, ‘transparency’ has become a new buzzword in British politics. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has appointed Sir Tim Berners-Lee, one of the creators of the World Wide Web, to help open up public access to government data collected by taxpayer-funded agencies. At the same time, Opposition Leader David Cameron has argued that the public has a ‘right to data’, and has pledged that a Tory government would openly … more

 

Henry’s Forgotten Sector

  Henry’s forgotten sector? Mark Lyons raises concerns about the Henry Review’s capacity to deal with nonprofits.   There is a degree of uncertainty about the extent to which the Henry Tax Review will deal with the nonprofit sector. Neither nonprofits nor the charity subset were specifically mentioned in the Henry Review’s terms of reference. When newspaper reports speculated that some of the concessions the churches enjoy might be under threat, (triggering a ‘What’s this?’ response … more

Five Ideas in Five Minutes

As the Henry tax review gains momentum, here is a discussion of a few concepts and issues that provide some background for a meaningful debate on tax reform. I also have a novel idea (presented in the usual 5 in 5 format) to get you thinking about possible changes to Australia’s taxation system. 1) To regress or progress? It goes without saying that the debate over tax reform is particularly polarised and often ideologically driven. … more

A view from the ‘tanks’

    Public debates on taxation in other countries can lose a little in translation – being necessarily specific to local arrangements.  We’ve sifted through current research from our counterpart think tanks in the US and UK to bring you some fresh ideas and the best of current thought on some of the more relevant tax issues. Further Reading: Current papers on taxation from US and UK think tanks  Institute of Fiscal Studies (UK) Major … more