Untangling the debate on bracket creep, corporate tax rates and negative gearing

Kevin Davis (Australian Centre for Financial Studies) does an excellent job in The Conversation of explaining simply some of the key issues in the very poor quality public tax debate.

Ruling, not governing – our politicians have little time or respect for policy

Peter van Onselen (University of Western Australia) and Wayne Errington (University of Adelaide) write in The Conversation that the present generation of leaders has expert knowledge about communicating, campaigning and focus groups but little time or respect for the best traditions of government: the patient development of policy formulated with the assistance of a professional public service. The pursuit of government for the sake of power outweighs the purpose for achieving it.

The ‘will of the people’ is the bastardisation of democracy

Jean-Paul Gagnon (Australian Catholic University) and Mark Chou (Australian Catholic University) explain in The Conversation that, if politicians are serious about acting on the “will of the people”, then reforming Australia’s electoral system should be on the agenda. Otherwise, phrases which invoke "the will of the people" are simply hubris designed to delegitimise their opponents both within parliament and more broadly, and to shut down debate. For democracy to work properly, it requires voters and their representatives to work together to achieve the most palatable ends for Australians.

Political Amnesia – How We Forgot How To Govern

Nicholas Barry (La Trobe University) reviews Laura Tingle's essay in The Conversation. He highlights that debate, serious discussion and deliberation are valued highly in a democracy not just for their own sake, but because they are considered essential to testing the quality of ideas and arguments. Increasingly, decision-makers in Canberra and beyond seem to have forgotten this age-old lesson of democratic politics. The quality of policymaking in Australia may be strengthened if they begin to remember it.

International criticism of Australia will not cease while current policy settings are maintained

Amy Maguire (University of Newcastle) writes in The Conversation that Australia faces a constant tide of international criticism which will not cease while current policy settings are maintained, but all Australians need to contribute to shape the country’s attitudes towards, and practice of, human rights.

Can we remain a functioning democracy without a strong public education system?

David Zyngier (Monash University) writes in The Conversation that the opposition’s “school funding reform” announcement has, in fact, merely maintained the status quo. Over the past decade, the performance of Australian students in international assessments has declined at all levels of achievement compared to international benchmarks. At the same time we have witnessed a massive shift in federal and state funds to the private sector of schooling.