| DEBATE - Debating tomorrow's Public Policy Articles for Issue 4, available December, 2008 Law A Charter of Rights for Australia Dr George Williams - Australia is the only democratic nation in the world without a national charter or bill of rights. It is time to modernise our system of government and introduce an Australian-wide human rights law that protects vulnerable groups like children and the elderly and important values like freedom of speech. Don’t Judge a Bill of Rights by Its Cover Dr James Allan - Do Australians want key moral and social policy questions (such as defining marriage, the legality of abortion, immigration policy, how to deal with terrorists, or what is considered hate speech) decided by judges, with little public scrutiny and no accountability? This is what a Bill of Rights does and Australia should not go down the path of the US or the UK on this issue. Economics The Moral Challenge of Affluence Dr Ian Harper and Dr Eric Jones - What has been the legacy of material prosperity – a culture marked by a subtle sense of grasping and getting or one of giving and loving? Calls to curb external manifestations of greed and excess, in a coercive legislative way, miss the point. There is a deeper, spiritual problem. Recovering the Theological Roots of Economics Dr Paul Oslington - A looming environmental crisis, a global financial crisis and the so-called 'failure' of unchecked capitalism have reignited debate about economics. Those who built economics, in 18th and 19th century Britain, placed it within a theological framework. In modern times economics has been separated from its theological roots. Is this significant? Corrective Services Prison, Post-Release and Justice Reform: A Personal Story Arthur Bolkas - The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. (Fyodor Dostoevsky) Australian Prisons: a booming industry Dr Eileen Baldry - Currently, a majority of prisoners reoffend at some time in their life (over a third within two years after release) and cycle on the prison conveyor belt, in and out. Those from severely disadvantaged backgrounds, those with mental and cognitive disabilities, the Indigenous and the seriously unhealthy are grossly overrepresented in a typical prison population. Why is this? Are prisons achieving their purpose? Classification and Censorship Classification standards - drawing the line somewhere Richard Egan - In January 2000, for the first time in Australian classifying history, a film that contained scenes with real sex was classified R18+ and not X18+. Successive classifications have progressively permitted more and more explicit sex in R18+ films. Are community standards slipping or are classifiers not abiding by the guidelines? Is this even important? Juvenile Consumption of Online Pornography and Sexual Delinquency Dr Robi Sonderegger - This article enquires whether juvenile consumption of online pornography presents as a risk factor in the development of sexually deviant behaviour (including paedophilia). Based on a broad review of the literature in paediatric psychology the Federal Labor party is justified, now more than ever, to explore Internet Service Provider filtering solutions to combat the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
Issue 3, 2008 available in newsagencies now (also by subscription) Political Philosophy Series What is Classical Liberalism? Dr Jeremy Shearmur - Politicians, bureaucrats and social interest groups have ensured that legislation and regulation reaches into every area of our public and personal lives. A classical liberal views this as threatening individual conscience and freedom. Read more… What is Socialism? Dr David Burchell. - Socialism from its earliest days always retained at its heart some element of a utopian vision and took human nature as more labile and malleable Read more… What is Conservatism? Dr Greg Melleuish - Conservatism is concerned with conserving or preserving the existing order as the best means of providing a stable political and social order able to meet human needs. Read more… Religious Reflections on political philosophy Dr Rod Benson The Sex Industry Current Sex Industry Laws in Australia Dr Mary Sullivan - Australia has been a forerunner in introducing legislation which legitimises the industry as an acceptable commercial activity; a job like any other. Read more… Swedish Model of Sex Industry Reform Gunilla Ekberg - On January 1, 1999, the Swedish law prohibiting the purchase of sexual services came into force as part of a larger Violence Against Women Act package. Read more… Charity and Not-for-Profit Charities, Profit and Tax – What does Charity mean? Murray Baird - The Australian Taxation Office is very keen to tax profits raised from so called 'commercial activities' conducted by charities, even if all the profit is used to fund charitable causes, like overseas mission or assisting those less fortunate in the community.Read more… Euthanasia Euthanasia NO Dr David Van Gend - Have any of the arguments changed? Euthanasia is an oppression of the vulnerable, and a profound corruption of the doctor-patient relationship, that we must not allow. We can only redouble our efforts to care, without killing. Read more… Euthanasia YES Dr Philip Nitschke - After 12 years of being involved in voluntary euthanasia, I have my own ideas of what lies behind the political stalemate we face. Read more… Advanced Directives – Neutralising the euthanasia debate Dr Megan Best - The desire of terminally ill patients to have more control over their situation is one of the driving forces behind requests for euthanasia. However, this desire can be met by several alternative measures, one of which is the Advance Directive. Read more…
The April 2008 edition of DEBATE is a special edition with a focus on family, education and healthcare. With the Prime Minister’s 2020 Ideas Summit coming up in mid April, we also have a feature article on the timeless policy ideas that have greatly influenced Australia in the past. Articles and authors include: Ideas that spring from faith. By Dr Greg Clarke. The Ideas Summit 2020 in mid April provides an opportunity to look back and see what timeless principles and policies have influenced Australia. What’s in a marriage certificate? Debate about de facto relationships, by Professor Patrick Parkinson. De facto couples automatically receive the same legal entitlements as married couples without ever signing up to it. Is this in breach of their human rights? Social Justice, pathways to poverty and the family, by Dr Samantha Callan. The Breakthrough Britain report, released in the UK, demonstrated that family stability should be treated as a social justice concern at the core of tackling key poverty issues such as educational failure, welfare dependency, serious personal debt (including gambling), and addiction. Australia’s Inequitable Child Payments System, by Professor Peter McDonald. The current child payment system is not equitable for families where both mothers and fathers chose to balance work and family. This type of family structure is at a disadvantage and reform is required. Putting the Value of Family Relationships on the Public Agenda, interview with Anne Hollonds. Family Relationship Centres were the cornerstone of the previous government’s family policy – to reduce the adversarial nature of divorce and separation. How successful have the centres been? Education and Social Connectedness, by Professor Barry McGaw. Private schools have been charged with ‘balkanising’ society. What about the public system? Professor McGaw argues that the schooling system is poor at producing social capital and discusses practical solutions to the problem. Who owns the common good? The case for both public and non-government schools, by Robert Johnston. Statistics and stories are thrown about in the squabble over state and federal funding of government and non-government schools. What is fact and what is fiction? Shifts in political thinking towards private schooling, by Stephen O’Doherty. An examination of the major political parties’ views towards private and public schooling in the lead up to last year’s federal election, and what this means for the future of non-government education. A Denial of Choice: Disabled Students Losing Out to Funding Discrimination, an interview with Peter Crimmins. An analysis of the inequity of funding for disabled students between the public and private schooling systems. Australia’s health system, a need for re-evaluation, by Dr Cliff Smith. The last decade has seen a fundamental shift in the philosophy that underpins our healthcare system. We are currently caught in the middle of this confusion – an ‘equity’ system based on basic care for all, or an ‘opportunity’ based system like in the United States. |
