As Dave Bath points out, if you want to make a submission to the government’s Talkfest 2020, you have until 5pm tomorrow to do so. Submissions can be made online at this site. A few bloggers have made submissions and put them online.
Club Troppo’s Jacque Chester has some interesting suggestions around open government. I would add that it would be great if government started making more data available and started publishing content such as Hansard in XML. This would then make it easier for people to analyse and present that data in interesting and insightful ways. The great They Work For You and Public Whip sites in the UK are examples of what can be done.
Catallaxy have also published a long list of reader suggestions: some of which are great, and some of which are no so great. I like the idea of all government actions having to pass a cost benefits test, and the idea of sunset clauses on all legislation is brilliant.
So, what are your big ideas?
7 comments ↓
Republic! I hear it will be brought up @ TalkFest.
Declare the Dalai Lama a terrorist and issue an international arrest warrant via Interpol. That would be a good start.
Will this gabfest be just like an ALP national congress? We’ve been witness to how the vox populi is ignored at those gatherings. A simple test is the issue of capital punishment (irrespective of its appeal or otherwise). Every poll I’ve seen indicates that a majority of people want it introduced. It’s introduction is resisted at every level of government. It’s a chimera to imagine that the people will get a say in how the country is to be run.
Well the consequences for Australia on the international stage of reintroducing capital punishment do need to be considered here.
Indeed. Stoning women to death for adultery is so messy.
I just used capital punishment as an example. A range of issues need to be thrashed out but will the pollies listen. Should we be selling off publicly owned utilities? Should we be choking off public streets in order to push all motorists onto private roads, via the cash register of course? Both state issues of course but a federal forum is the only place which offers the great unwashed a venue to have a say. Should the defence of ‘honest mistake’ be removed so that when one of those turds known as politicians gets caught they can actually be charged with an offence? So many issues and only one meeting.
GMan: Are you claiming that Australia supports stoning?
Marcus: Good point. Hopefully this could be a first step/meeting in a series of more to come.
I agree that some things should be government run, such as public transportation.
And the pollies are never going to shoot themselves in the foot like that.
Rudd is right to leave the Republican issue till later, but he obviously wants a debate on it considering where he brought it up. But it might be better to leave it till someone like Turnbull (Republican) leads the Liberal Party.
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