Research
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The anatomy of a good idea: from the sublime to the subprimeI propose three ideas for the upcoming 2020 Summit this weekend. Firstly, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is asking for participants to take the long view of Australia's future, which is always the hard thing for leaders trapped in the electoral cycle to do. Secondly, Rudd is asking Australia to accept that just gathering 1000 volunteers in a room and asking them to volunteer their talent and energy for Australia's future is a good idea. Thirdly, perha... -
There is much to celebrate but work still to be doneInternational Women's Day is on Saturday. In the spirit of national change, I nominate three wishes for progress in gender equality that the Rudd Government could deliver immediately, and which might also yield longer term benefits for all Australian women. First, move the Office for Women back into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Secondly, continue the focus on a national response to and the public campaign against domestic violenc... -
Duty of MPs to stay full termBut is it acceptable for former government members to leave early purely because they have lost government? At the least, there should be recognition of the shirking of responsibility that this entails. There should also be some contribution towards the considerable costs of holding by-elections. Representing one's constituency for the duration of the parliament is a duty that all elected members must carry out, but serving in the ministry is a p... -
Clutter the persistent curse of the acquiring classA study by the Australia Institute, Stuff Happens, found that women in particular find clutter distressing. They don't necessarily have more clutter than men (the typical suburban garage would dispel that notion) but they tend to notice it more. Women are also more embarrassed by their clutter than men. The alternative to cluttering up our homes is simply to avoid acquiring unwanted or useless items in the first place. Among other things, this re... -
The Australian: We didn't mean it. ReallyFrom the moment it became plain that Labor would win the election, The Australian began to argue that a Rudd victory is in fact a victory for Howard. He has so much in common with Howard that, despite appearances, the victory of Rudd is another defeat for the left. Humbled by the new spirit of reconciliation, The Australian in its leader admitted, with masterful understatement, “we have not been above the odd ad hominem attack ourselves”. -
Giving the houses a timely democratic makeoverThe dawn of the new 42nd Parliament is a rare chance to draw a line under certain practices of the previous decade of Parliament, practices that had undermined some of the basic tenets of parliamentary democracy. The new tone has to be set from the outset. What precisely was wrong with our old Parliament? In essence, it has not been a place where ideas or legislation have been open for robust debate. Decisions were made by the Executive in privat... -
Garnaut loses the plotRoss Garnaut, who will report in June to the Rudd Government on its emissions trading system, is a former trade economist now spending a lot of time thinking about how to prevent powerful industries undermining the Government's plans. He has come up with a radical solution. Let's have one target, a carbon budget aimed at a 60 per cent cut by 2050, locked in and shored up by various devices, and let the market sort out how and when it will cut emi... -
Dont Just Rush into Any Old CareerThe pressures on teenagers today are immense. Many are convinced that their entire lives will be determined by one number ”” their ENTER score. But, many who do not do well at school or university go on to have highly successful careers. And many who perform brilliantly at school and university somehow end up living obscure and unsatisfying lives. It is well known that a mature-age student whose entry score was so-so will usually outperform the s... -
Hamilton: Rudd at Bali and BeyondThe science is becoming more alarming by the month, and so are the impacts of global warming itself. The demand for decisive action can only intensify over the next three years; it will require far-sighted policies to bring about a wholesale transformation of the nation's energy economy, a structural change on a par with that brought about by the dismantling of tariff protection. The Howard Government has been punished by the electorate for its... -
Society poorer when it's sneers all roundNearly 20 years ago I went through a process that is sometimes referred to as "the dark night of the soul". It is a phase of spiritual life that many people experience. The phenomenon is well known in the Catholic Church in all traditions. Openness is a virtue in public life. What an impoverished world it would be if everyone remained silent for fear of attempts to turn their honesty against them.