Progressive Ideas Worth Sharing

As tensions between the US and China rise, what are the implications for our future security and prosperity? What are the risks of a war over Taiwan? What is the place of AUKUS in all of this? How should we handle this difficult situation? The Australia-China relationship is our most important foreign policy issue. China is our key trading and investment partner and an increasingly powerful influence in our region. Amidst growing anxiety, it is becoming difficult to find balanced and contextualised analysis.

On Tuesday 19 May, Eva Cox, Patron of Australian Fabians, gave an address via Zoom as the guest speaker during the WA Fabians AGM on "Privatisation, the State and COVID-19".

On 18 June 2020 Professor Geoff Gallop gave this address via Zoom for WA Fabians on deliberative democracy and the work of the newDemocracy Foundation.

Linda is one of Australia's most well-known union leaders. She's been at the forefront of some of our biggest industrial campaigns from supporting workers during the collapse of Ansett and Virgin through to the ASU's equal remuneration campaign. Linda is also the Chair of the Chifley Research Centre, a director at Statewide Super and former vice-president of the ACTU. Linda will draw from the collective experience of union members as we talk about: Virgin Australia's collapse - protecting workers, strong unions and the role of government. Job Keeper, Job Seeker, casual and international workers - what needs to be done to protect non-permanent employees. Keeping our social, community sector and other frontline workers safe, and remunerated, during a crisis. How Unions and progressive organisations can work together to deliver the bold social and economic reform our country desperately needs. Plus - your questions!

How will COVID-19 Shape the Progressive Agenda for Australia's FutureJoin the Australian Fabians and Andrew Leigh MP as we talk through the topic of 'How will COVID-19 Shape the Progressive Agenda for Australia's Future'. 

This address by Dr Jim Stanford, Director, Centre for Future Work based at The Australia Institute was co-hosted by UnionsWA and The Australian Fabians in WA. It was delivered in Perth on Wednesday 3rd April 2019.  

Reports of the death of democracy may be greatly exaggerated. However, there is mounting evidence that many people are losing trust in our democratic institutions. Today people in countries we regard as non-democratic often have greater confidence in their governments to act in their interests than we do. Observers pin the blame on our out-of-touch governments, corrupt media and politicians, big corporations and a growing gap between rich and poor. More than a few disaffected citizens are meanwhile attracted to new populisms because they feel dragged down by economic dissatisfaction, broken promises, decline and injustice. In his talk, John Keane will survey recent trends to suggest that democracy urgently needs reimagining if it is to address the dangers and opportunities posed by current global realities. His talk will offer a radically new interpretation of the twenty-first century fate of democracy and why, despite everything, it may survive the current anti-democratic trends and remain a global ideal. Renowned globally for his creative thinking about democracy, John Keane has been described by the ABC as one of 'Australia's great intellectual exports'. He is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), and Distinguished Professor at Peking University. He is the Director and co-founder of the Sydney Democracy Network. Keane has contributed to The New York Times, Al Jazeera, the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, Harper’s, the South China Morning Post and The Huffington Post. His latest book, The New Despotisms, on the global rise of despotism and the decline of democracy in the West, is to be published by Harvard University Press in early 2020.

This address on the 2019 European election and the rise of the right was delivered by Natalie Mast to the 2019 WA AGM of Australian Fabians on 14th July. Ms Mast, a Fabian member, completed her PhD on the influence of institutional design upon the organisation of parties and the behaviour of members in the European Parliament. The slides used during the presentation can be downloaded here: https://www.fabians.org.au/wa_fabians  

On 10 June, 2019 WA Fabians hosted, with support from CGM Communications, a 2019 Federal Election Analysis with presentations from William Bowe, Channel 9, ABC radio election and Crikey commentator and political blogger 'The Poll Bludger' as well as from Karen Luscombe of WA Opinion Poll. The PowerPoints can be downloaded from here: https://www.fabians.org.au/wa_fabians 

On 11 March 2019 Australian Fabians co-hosted with Emily's List "Anne Summers in conversation with Anne Aly" held at the Perth Town Hall.

Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute, has updated and expanded his best-selling Quarterly Essay into his newest book Dead Right: How neoliberalism ate itself and what comes next. Australian Fabians and The Australia Institute are proud to invite you to the Melbourne leg of his book tour. "In Dead Right, Richard explores ideas around what Neoliberalism has done to Australia. For decades, we have been led to believe that the private sector does everything better, that governments can’t afford to provide the high-quality services they once did, but that security and prosperity for all are just around the corner. In fact, Australians are now less equal, millions of workers have no sick leave or paid holidays, and housing is unaffordable for many. Deregulation, privatisation and trickle-down economics have, we are told, delivered us twenty-seven years of economic growth ... but to what end? This updated and expanded edition of Richard Denniss’ bestselling Quarterly Essay gives a template for understanding the next federal election; discusses how and why the right of politics has continued to splinter; focuses on why energy and climate policy is such a problem for conservative politics; and looks in more detail at what could come after neoliberalism." ~ The Australia Institute Team Dead Right: How Neoliberalism ate itself and what comes next, is out now!  

In 2007, Kevin Rudd famously declared climate change to be “the great moral challenge of our generation” Nevertheless, successive Labor and Coalition governments have failed to act effectively towards action on climate change or mitigating its effects. Corruption, denial and delay have permeated our institutions and have contributed to the current political inertia that has produced both outrage and hopelessness, as well as profound alienation from our democratic system. But it doesn’t have to be this way... Individuals and groups both domestically and overseas are fighting to change the politics of climate change before it is too late. But how do we change climate politics when the power is not with grassroots activists and individual citizens? Who is standing in our way? What makes our democratic system amplify some political points of view and not others? Who has most access to the levers that change political outcomes? What can we do to change that? For a discussion on why so much has gone wrong with the politics of climate change, and where to look to successfully change how climate politics get heard, join us for this event on the 10th of April! Speakers: Victoria McKenzie-McHarg Victoria is currently Manager of Strategy and Planning at Bank Australia. Bank Australia are strongly committed to supporting renewable projects and lending to low-income households for solar installations. Victoria has been chair of the Climate Action Network Australia since October 2015, and is a Board member of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne. Her previous positions include Climate Campaigner at Environment Victoria from 2007 to 2013, a Director at the Moreland Energy Foundation from 2011 to 2014, and a Climate Campaign Manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation from 2014 to 2015. David Spratt David has been an important climate activist and author for many years. Best known as co-author of the influential book Climate Code Red, he is Research Director at the Breakthrough Research Centre for Climate Restoration, and authored/co-authored many key reports on the growing significance of the acceleration of climate change, most recently "What Lies Beneath" (co-authored with Ian Dunlop), described as the inside story of how climate policy has become embedded in a culture of failure and scientific reticence. David is a member of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Addresses by Phil O'Donoghue and Tim Dymond at Perth Trades Hall on Tuesday 4 December 2018 based on their contribution to the Australian Fabians Pamphlet 27 Inclusive Growth. Opinions expressed are their own.

Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs has been both a champion of human rights and a target of attempts to suppress them. She is the former President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and for Fabians, needs little other introduction. Australia is increasingly abrogating its human rights obligations abroad and the fundamental freedoms of its own citizens at home. Secrecy laws cover the most extreme breaches. Surveillance and self censorship ensure that people who might act as witnesses and whistleblowers do not or cannot speak up. Organisations that might act as checks and balances are delegitimized by accusations of politicisation, and progressively defunded. New threats to human rights emerge all the time. The recently proposed Office of National Intelligence Bill will confer powers that may substantially undermine the personal privacy of ordinary citizens. Professor Triggs' will focus on the effects of this Bill and other legislative threats to our fundamental freedoms in common law and treaty obligations.  

Dr Bruce Lindsay (Environmental Justice Australia, Member of Australian Panel of Experts on Environmental Law) Bruce works as a law reform and project officer at Environmental Justice Australia - a public-interest community legal centre specialising in environmental and planning law. Bruce has written on biodiversity law, water law, access to justice issues, and planning law for EJA. He has previously worked with Trust for Nature, undertaking leading research on law in private land conservation and environmental markets. He has had a long association with local environmental groups and issues in Geelong, Victoria. This is the third event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, co-hosted by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), at which we'll discuss environmental sustainability and equality, with talks by Dr Bruce Lindsay and Ged Kearney MP. The 2018 IPCC report on climate change says we have about 12 years to act to keep climate change to 1.5 degrees. The action required to prevent increasing CO2 will be both rapid and dislocating but not anywhere near as dislocating as the effects of higher than 1.5 degrees of warming. Many of the impacts from climate risks and remedies will disproportionately affect the more disadvantaged in our society. This represents a threat to our progressive social democracy. How do we act on climate change and sustain a thriving diverse environment, human well-being and equality all at the same time?

Ged Kearney MP (ALP Member for Batman) Ged was born and raised in Melbourne and lived in the electorate of Batman for 20 years. She started her working life as a nurse and rose to become Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation. From 2010, Ged served as the elected president of the ACTU – the peak body of Australia’s union movement – where she has been fighting for better conditions for Australian workers. Ged fought John Howard’s Workchoices to protect our rights at work, and is a passionate advocate for social justice and gender equality in the workplace. This is the third event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, co-hosted by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), at which we'll discuss environmental sustainability and equality, with talks by Dr Bruce Lindsay and Ged Kearney MP. The 2018 IPCC report on climate change says we have about 12 years to act to keep climate change to 1.5 degrees. The action required to prevent increasing CO2 will be both rapid and dislocating but not anywhere near as dislocating as the effects of higher than 1.5 degrees of warming. Many of the impacts from climate risks and remedies will disproportionately affect the more disadvantaged in our society. This represents a threat to our progressive social democracy. How do we act on climate change and sustain a thriving diverse environment, human well-being and equality all at the same time?  

Frank McGuire is the Victorian State member for Broadmeadows. As part of an extensive and varied career in politics he has an abiding interest in urban planning. Frank was nominated for the international Metropolis Award for innovation in 2011 for his model for smarter, healthier, better connected and sustainable communities, the Global Learning Village. In 2013-14 he co-chaired Parliament’s Economic Development, Infrastructure and Outer Suburban/Interface Services Committee. He is currently driving for Melbourne's north to become a "Smart City" - an innovation, education and technology hub. In 2016 he published 'Creating Opportunity: Postcodes of Hope', a blueprint for cultural, generational and systemic change delivering lifelong learning, economic development and jobs. This is the first event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, and will feature talks by Professor Barbara Norman and Frank McGuire MP, with a special introduction by Fabian Luminary and National Treasure Barry Jones. Our familiar urban and suburban areas are at the forefront of much of the economic, social and environmental change sweeping Australia. Challenges arise in an arc of suburbs around Melbourne and other major cities. They are the result of the closure of old industries and changes in employment. Furthermore, the rise of inequality between suburbs contributes to the challenges, where some may become waiting rooms of permanent unemployment and a marginalised existence, with little expectation of the better future that spurred on former generations. Challenges to planning are also waiting in the wings from the social and physical effects of climate change, whether from increased numbers of people harmed or displaced by drought and flood, or from the struggle to adapt our cities to new land-use, energy and transport imperatives, as food and energy are stretched and the natural environment put under even more pressure. How can we address these issues so that people can have confidence in the future of the communities in which they live?  

Dean is from the Quandamooka peoples from Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in Queensland. He was involved in the negotiations leading to a Native Title determination in 2011 and continues to work with his community on this journey. He helped facilitate all 13 dialogues that produced the Uluru Statement from the Heart. He is currently establishing a people's movement to promote political momentum for the Uluru Statement. He also runs his own consultancy aimed at co-design of strategic change, bringing people together and engaging them in dialogue. This is the second event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, at which we'll discuss reconciliation, the strengthening of First Nations' voices, and their link with equality. It will feature talks by Dean Parkin and Justin Mohamed. That the idea of reconciliation and the creation of a mechanism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, on an equal footing, in the affairs of Australia dates back at least 40 years is itself testimony to the intransigence of the Australian political system in its lack of recognition of First Nations' voices. Reconciliation Australia defines "Reconciliation" as based on five principles; Race relations based on trust and respect, free of racism Equality and equity of participation in a range of life opportunities, also recognising the unique rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Institutional integrity of political, business and community organisations to support reconciliation Unity, so that our shared identity recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage Historical acceptance, meaning that the wrongs of the past and the necessity for their redress are accepted by all Australians These are big steps for Australia to take. How can we take them and emerge with greater equality?  

A Gooreng Gooreng man from Bundaberg in Queensland, Justin Mohamed has spent much of his career working in the Aboriginal health and sport sectors, improving outcomes and connections to culture for Aboriginal people, including children. He is a leader in reconciliation, having served as the CEO of Reconciliation Australia for three years until 2017, and was most recently the CEO of Equity Health Solutions. Currently he is the Victorian Government Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. This is the second event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, at which we'll discuss reconciliation, the strengthening of First Nations' voices, and their link with equality. It will feature talks by Dean Parkin and Justin Mohamed. That the idea of reconciliation and the creation of a mechanism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, on an equal footing, in the affairs of Australia dates back at least 40 years is itself testimony to the intransigence of the Australian political system in its lack of recognition of First Nations' voices. Reconciliation Australia defines "Reconciliation" as based on five principles; Race relations based on trust and respect, free of racism Equality and equity of participation in a range of life opportunities, also recognising the unique rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Institutional integrity of political, business and community organisations to support reconciliation Unity, so that our shared identity recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage Historical acceptance, meaning that the wrongs of the past and the necessity for their redress are accepted by all Australians These are big steps for Australia to take. How can we take them and emerge with greater equality?  

Barbara Norman is the Foundation Chair of Urban and Regional Planning, and Director of Canberra Urban & Regional Futures (CURF), at the University of Canberra. She has extensive experience in the public sector at all levels of government. Her research interests include coastal planning, sustainable cities, urban and regional planning, climate change adaptation, and coastal and urban governance. Barbara's new book 'Sustainable Pathways for our Cities and Regions' looks at the ways in which current planning approaches need to be adapted to embrace concepts such as green growth, planetary boundaries, healthy cities and long-term sustainability. This is the first event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, and will feature talks by Professor Barbara Norman and Frank McGuire MP, with a special introduction by Fabian Luminary and National Treasure Barry Jones. Our familiar urban and suburban areas are at the forefront of much of the economic, social and environmental change sweeping Australia. Challenges arise in an arc of suburbs around Melbourne and other major cities. They are the result of the closure of old industries and changes in employment. Furthermore, the rise of inequality between suburbs contributes to the challenges, where some may become waiting rooms of permanent unemployment and a marginalised existence, with little expectation of the better future that spurred on former generations. Challenges to planning are also waiting in the wings from the social and physical effects of climate change, whether from increased numbers of people harmed or displaced by drought and flood, or from the struggle to adapt our cities to new land-use, energy and transport imperatives, as food and energy are stretched and the natural environment put under even more pressure. How can we address these issues so that people can have confidence in the future of the communities in which they live?  

Dr Bruce Lindsay (Environmental Justice Australia, Member of Australian Panel of Experts on Environmental Law) Bruce works as a law reform and project officer at Environmental Justice Australia - a public-interest community legal centre specialising in environmental and planning law. Bruce has written on biodiversity law, water law, access to justice issues, and planning law for EJA. He has previously worked with Trust for Nature, undertaking leading research on law in private land conservation and environmental markets. He has had a long association with local environmental groups and issues in Geelong, Victoria. This is the third event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, co-hosted by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), at which we'll discuss environmental sustainability and equality, with talks by Dr Bruce Lindsay and Ged Kearney MP. The 2018 IPCC report on climate change says we have about 12 years to act to keep climate change to 1.5 degrees. The action required to prevent increasing CO2 will be both rapid and dislocating but not anywhere near as dislocating as the effects of higher than 1.5 degrees of warming. Many of the impacts from climate risks and remedies will disproportionately affect the more disadvantaged in our society. This represents a threat to our progressive social democracy. How do we act on climate change and sustain a thriving diverse environment, human well-being and equality all at the same time?  

This is Event 3 of Victorian Fabians' Autumn Series on 'What do we mean by Equality?' The first two events of our Autumn series explored the effects and degree of economic inequality, as well as the renewed concept of 'class' as revealed through social and cultural inequality in Australia. Our next event will look at how to address the consequences of inequality, now and in future. What will be the developments in society that might lead to increased or diminished future social and economic inequality? What societal and policy changes, both to the nature of work and the provision of social services such as education, health and welfare, are needed to redress the inequality imbalance? Are our institutional responses up to the task? What sort of governing institutions and policies are needed to promote equality? Jim Stanford Jim Stanford is an economist and the Director of the Centre for Future Work, based at the Australia Institute. He is a Canadian who has relocated to Australia, much to our benefit! In Canada, he served for over 20 years as an economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union (formerly Canadian Auto Workers). In Australia he has pursued interests in precarious and insecure work, the effects of automation on work, the strategic importance of public sector work, and how governments could support better wages and working conditions for all.  

This is Event 3 of Victorian Fabians' Autumn Series on 'What do we mean by Equality?' The first two events of our Autumn series explored the effects and degree of economic inequality, as well as the renewed concept of 'class' as revealed through social and cultural inequality in Australia. Our next event will look at how to address the consequences of inequality, now and in future. What will be the developments in society that might lead to increased or diminished future social and economic inequality? What societal and policy changes, both to the nature of work and the provision of social services such as education, health and welfare, are needed to redress the inequality imbalance? Are our institutional responses up to the task? What sort of governing institutions and policies are needed to promote equality? Shelley Mallett is Professorial Fellow in Social Policy in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and General Manager for Research and Policy at the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Shelley's research interests include homelessness, youth transitions in out-of-home care and similar settings, and gender and health inequities. Shelley has also written on how a Universal Basic income may be utilised in such a way as to support youth transitions in the precarious years of early adulthood.

Since Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, there is more interest about the extent to which the internet, digital platforms and big data is being used by sectional interests to gain political power. Manipulative techniques are being applied to democracy, voting behaviours and public political sentiment. There has also been unprecidented foreign intervention in elections. Who are the new power brokers? How is your vote affected? How is Australia affected? Vanessa Teague is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computing and Information Systems at at the University of Melbourne. A legitimate hacker, she has demonstrated that virtually no encrypted system is secure. At the same time she has a passionate commitment to people’s ownership of their own data and to democracy. Vanessa has been invited to appear before several parliamentary inquiries into elections at the state and federal level, to answer questions on electronic voting.  

The first event in the Victorian Fabians Spring series on the future of work, "What is happening to work and will there even be any in future?" set the scene for the rest of the series, as well as setting out the problem of work and inequality. Dr Julia Thornton is the Victorian Fabians Acting Chair and a key architect of this series. She has studied the intersection between society and technology in both her Masters' degree and her PhD, and has recently attended two conferences on the future of work. She spoke on the conditions leading to substantial changes in the amount and kind of work we can expect to see in future. She suggested that the bulk of the commentary on changes to work focus on the people who can expect to benefit from it, professionals and entrepreneurs. The trends that are usually credited with producing changes to work and almost inevitably, a loss of jobs include globalisation, increased longevity, climate change and most prominently advances in technology, particularly artificial intelligence and the speed of technological change. Jobs that cannot be automated are at the top and bottom of the income and status range. Those that are most in danger of being lost are based on routine manual work, such as manufacturing, and more surprisingly, routine cognitive work, especially in education, legal services and financial advice. These jobs are overwhelmingly the jobs in the social middle. She argued that we need to think carefully about unintended consequences of blindly granting such trends the force of inevitability. We need instead to think carefully about how to understand what we are collectively creating in terms of inequality.

Special Event with Terri Butler MP and Andrew Giles MP How might a new approach to tax achieve greater equality? Have you read Terri Butler and Andrew Giles' essay for Australian Fabians on how tax measures can be used to achieve greater equality? If not, access your copy here. Now is your chance to hear them discuss their ideas... At this event Terri Butler and Andrew Giles will outline the ideas put forward in their essay, followed by an exploration of its implications with Alison McClelland AM (former Productivity Commissioner) and questions from you! In their essay they argue: "Today, Australians are experiencing record levels of inequality. We are on course for a future which promises a new Gilded Age for a lucky few, at the expense of confined and insecure lives for the many. To reverse this trend to inequality we need more than a set of policies: we need a consistent argument for the changes needed to deliver growth that is inclusive and sustainable. This has to be anchored by a new approach to tax." Andrew Giles is the Federal Member for Scullin; Terri Butler is the Federal Member for Griffith.  

Having a job is the traditional entry point into adult social life. What you do so frequently defines who you are that they are hard to separate. Work and a meaningful life are almost inextricably bound together in most people's thinking. Yet if work is diminishing and the work that remains for the majority becomes meaningless, low status and simply that which machines cannot do, where can we find a meaningful attachment to wider society? If the options for almost any kind of employment are reduced by technology and globalisation, how can people retain their dignity and place in society? Possibilities include a new twist on co-operatives, voluntary work enhancing civil society or the introduction of a universal basic income. This event discusses some of the alternative options for a meaningful work life, decoupled perhaps from the traditional job market, or perhaps from the economic necessity of work. Emma Kerin, National Union of Workers Media Communications Organiser, speaks on Co-operative work and worker co-operatives, another alternative to work as it is currently understood.  

When your data is captured and shared by government, what are the benefits and costs? The Turnbull government touts public and private use of open government data as a wellspring for better public and private service delivery and economic well-being. Digitisation and tracking of government data allows better understanding of causes and solutions to inequities in our changing communities, and consequent adjustment of services and amenities. But use of government data is also encouraged for private profit making business opportunities. Digitised government data may be used well or badly by both government entities and private ventures. Does open government digital data improve equality of access to democracy and its benefits and empower all? Chris Culnane is a Research Fellow in the Department of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. He has researched electronic voting. He was the technical lead on the SuVote project to design, develop, and deploy an end-to-end verifiable electronic voting system in the 2014 state election in the State of Victoria, Australia. More recently he was part of the team that discovered weaknesses in the anonymisation of the Australian Government MBS/PBS dataset release. The dataset consisted of a 10% sample of Australian Medicare billing records over a 30 year period. He is also interested in how the original notion of open government has morphed into the more general notion of open data. As a result, an increasing number of open government data releases are not about the Government itself, but are instead about the population. Chris says "...an increasing number of open government data releases are not about the Government itself, but are instead about the population. ...Such releases raise important questions about data ownership; does the data belong to the government, or is it merely the custodian? Should data that is collected compulsorily, or via access to essential government services, ever be released as open data, given the lack of an opt-out or alternative? If such data is released, does that mean a greater dependence on government services increases the likelihood of being a subject in a data release, and therefore incurs a greater privacy risk?"  

Tony is a Former Fabians editor, and currently Associate Professor and Program Director for the Master of Communications and Media Studies at Monash University. He has recently authored a book chapter on the role of class in inequality.  

NSW Fabians, Sydney, 3 February 2017The NSW Fabians are proud to host Paul Mason in conversation.Join us for what should be a fascinating discussion about Jeremy Corbyn, Brexit, the rise of the far right and the economic road ahead.Paul Mason is a writer and broadcaster on economics and social justice. He is a regular columnist for The Guardian and notable commentator on the future of the Left. His most recent book is 'PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future'.

Sydney, 11 October 2016

Sydney, 9 September 2016

NSW Fabians, Sydney, 15 April 2016

NSW Fabians, Sydney, 14 February 2016

Fabians National Chair Tim Sonnreich interviews author, speech writer and former political adviser Joel Deane over a coffee at a café in Fitzroy. In a fast-paced discussion we hear Joel's views on;*how to achieve lasting progressive policy reform, *the tension between political advisers and departmental officials in setting the policy agenda,*the joys and frustrations of political advising as a career, and,*the role of factions in Labor Governments. This chat was recorded on November 6, 2015. Length: 28mins 21secs

Sydney, 30 September 2015

The ACT Fabians are joined by Senator Katy Gallagher, former Chief Minister of the ACT to discuss the processes, institutions, tips and tricks that make for good government.

Fabian Seminar, Housing Affordability in Crisis.  [Ben Spies-Butcher, Mark Bonanno]

NSW Fabians, Sydney, 29 July 2015 The Global Financial Crisis was supposed to herald the end of neoliberalism yet social democracy seems to have entered a crisis deeper than that of the 1970s and 80s. Parties and coalitions of the centre-left have struggled against a confident laissez-faire right and resurgent nationalism. A crisis of financial capital became a crisis of public finance, leading to austerity and attacks on the remnants of the social democratic consensus. Many have claimed that social democracy is facing a crisis of irrelevance or extinction, its standing eroded by individualism and globalisation.But is there actually a crisis of social democracy? The electoral decline of historic centre-left parties is contrasted by many of the issues championed by social democrats such as inequality, unemployment and insecurity being at the forefront of public debate, and the other rising parties on the left and populist right are campaigning on what some see as a traditional social democratic agenda. Rather than a crisis of social democracy, is it really a crisis of the traditional political establishment?Join us and a great panel of speakers as we discuss the current state of social democracy, whether there is a crisis and what the future holds.Mark Bahnisch, sociologist and author of “Queensland: Everything you ever wanted to know, but were afraid to ask”Eva Cox, academic and social commentatorDavid Hetherington, Executive Director, Per Capita

Sydney, 26 June 2015 The Australian Frontier Wars were fought from 1788 to the 1920s between Indigenous Australians and an invading coalition of white settlers, militia, police, and colonial soldiers. It has been estimated that in total the conflict claimed 20,000 to 30,000 Aboriginal lives and the lives of between 2,000 and 2,500 Europeans. This was undoubtedly a defining conflict in the history of this country.However, despite the undeniable significance of the Frontier wars to our shared history, there is currently no mention of them at all in the National War Memorial in Canberra and on going silence in mainstream Australian society in general.The NSW Fabians are proud to be joined for this event by Professor Henry Reynolds, one of Australia's most respected historians who will speak on this important but sadly too often overlooked chapter of our history and discuss how we might move forward to ensure proper acknowledgement and a more honest understanding of our past. 

Our March Forum is very timely, following on the release on 25 February of the final report of Patrick McClure's review into Australia's welfare system. The report has received a cautious, sometimes sceptical reception from the disability community. With this forum, we hope to ensure that the debate has only begun and that equality continues to be the watchword for all future policy makers. Where: Melbourne City Conference Centre, Corner Swanston & Lt Lonsdale StreetsWhen: 6.00pm - 7.30pm, Tuesday, 10th March 2015Hear informed perspectives from the Victorian government and disability sector.•Gabrielle Williams MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Disabilities•Tony Clark, disabilities campaigner and candidate for Ringwood at the Victorian State election•Jen Hargrave from 'Women with Disabilities Victoria'. She is Policy Officer at WDV and is responsible for writing submissions to the current Senate enquiry, Vic Royal Commission into Family Violence, and a Vic Ombudsman enquiry amongst other things.

Ever since Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave her famous misogyny speech in 2012 in reaction to the sexist smears of the Opposition, the Australian feminism movement appears to be undergoing a resurgence.With the internet and social media emerging as an important space for feminist activism, and an increasing diversity of feminist voices in the Australian public sphere, is Australia finally experiencing a ‘fourth wave’ of feminism?These questions and many more will the addressed by our panel of activists, which includes:•Renee Carr, Executive Director and founding Board Member of Fair Agenda;•Van Badham, writer, social commentator and columnist for Guardian Australia;•Celeste Liddle, National Indigenous Organiser, NTEU.•Tanja Kovac, Convenor of Emily’s List, Australia.The event will be moderated by Australian Young Fabians Director Cassandra Devine.

Having just released his new book 'The Good Fight', The ACT Fabians was lucky enough to host a conversation with the Hon Wayne Swan MP and Bernard Keane of Crikey to reflect on Wayne's story and the role of a Labor government into the future.