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With the 2013 general election now out of the way, the new government is well placed, if it has sufficient strength of purpose, to address the various issues that are at risk of engulfing the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Defence Department. The immediate and dominant issue is that likely levels of defence funding are not enough to sustain today's ADF and simultaneously to fund its modernisation. To resolve this core inconsistency will require dispassionate analysis of Australia's evolving strategic circumstances, so that decisions on the size and preparedness of the ADF and on the rate and direction of its modernisation can have a secure foundation. This will both allow assessments of strategic risk and provide a rigorous basis for arguing for different levels of funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the relationship between government growth and real GDP per capita by developing models of federal legislative output in Australia since 1901. Growth in legislation is found to be negatively related to growth in real income per capita in the short-run, implying that legislation responds to temporary economic shocks, but without a robust long-run relationship with the level of income. The growth in the number of pages of legislation enacted and legislative complexity also show a negative short-run relationship with growth in real national income per capita and a positive long-run relationship with the level of income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the developed world, recent Australian political history is uniquely turbulent. This situation invokes indecision regarding investment decisions in both the real economy and the financial markets. This paper explores the relationship between uncertainty in Australian federal election polling and resulting financial market uncertainty. Empirical evidence suggests that increasing (decreasing) levels of uncertainty around the election result induce higher (lower) levels of uncertainty in financial markets. The effect is more pronounced as polling day approaches. Industry-level analysis suggests that the base materials sector is most significantly affected by election uncertainty in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mid-2014, Australian consumer affairs ministers announced that they would together set 'a national, legally enforceable definition of free-range eggs'. A response to significant conflict, claims and counterclaims about what free-range should mean, the proposed code could take the form of a mandatory information standard under the Australian Consumer Law. This paper asks whether this approach would adequately respond to the underlying conflict between various actors as to what free-range means. Conflict over the meaning of free-range on the label is the latest expression in an ongoing series of challenges, defences and counter-challenges to the legitimacy of intense, industrial-scale animal food production and particularly conventional cage egg production. This paper briefly explains how it is that the regulation of welfare of layer hens is now largely a matter of voluntary labelling for consumer choice rather than mandatory government regulation of animal welfare in production conditions. It goes on to critically evaluate whether the current network of voluntary regulation of free-range labelling adequately informs consumers about animal welfare conditions using data collected about the claims on egg carton labels between 2012 and 2014 to do so. It goes on to assess the potential of a mandatory information code or other consumer regulation to improve animal welfare labelling on eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the special issue on policy work at the sub-national government level and non-governmental sector in three countries: Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic. It consists of three parts. First, new public governance theory is presented as a general theoretical perspective that captures some of the important macro factors influencing the nature of current policy work. Second, an overview of empirical findings on policy work of subnational governments and NGOs is provided. This review discusses different possible interpretations of these findings. Third, main findings from each paper presented in this special issue are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Australian developments with respect to the Westminster-model of responsible parliamentary government. Australia has adopted preferential voting and compulsory voting; and it has a long history of governments that are coalitions or that negotiate support from smaller parties and independents, or both. Australia began making its previously 'secret' cabinet handbook available to the public in 1982, and followed this up with release of the Executive Council Handbook and 'caretaker conventions' to prevent a government from making major commitments during an election. And recently it has reduced parliamentary privileges and codified them in statute. Each offers lessons for Canada. To that end, this paper traces the Australian developments and practices beginning with its electoral system and compulsory voting, government formation (including changing governments mid-term), popular understanding of the powers of the Governor General, the unclassified cabinet and executive council handbooks, caretaker conventions and parliamentary privileges. There are lessons on each for other Commonwealth countries to learn, as several countries including the United Kingdom have begun to realize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filicide is the killing of a child by a parent or parent equivalent. Between 2000-01 and 2011-12, there were 238 incidents of filicide in Australia involving the death of 284 children. This paper examines the characteristics of custodial parents, non-custodial parents and stepparents charged with the murder or manslaughter of their children. Offender circumstances and characteristics differed according to the offender's gender and custodial relationship with the victim. As filicide is difficult to predict, intervention strategies should focus on families with multiple risk factors and address the needs of parents as well as those of children at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly short-term, opportunistic, adversarial politics has consistently constrained and compromised significant and genuine tax reform in Australia. This article reviews the various attempts at tax reform since Asprey in the mid-1970s, assesses the existing tax system and attempts to set out the major essential ingredients of genuine tax reform in this country. Tax reform is seen as particularly urgent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian state is not normally considered in the context of fragility. We challenge the assumption of Australian robustness by examining the way in which two potential vulnerabilities are framed and the way these issues are incorporated in to the political and institutional policy agendas. Food and energy security will be examined in the context of Australia as a complex adaptive system with an analysis of the vulnerabilities of these two issues as understood by different actors. While it can be argued that Australia has been resilient in the past, we argue that this state cannot be taken for granted for the future. There are vulnerabilities that could become triggers for unexpected changes, or which could tip towards greater vulnerability and fragility [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It seems inevitable that sovereignty and self-determination engulf any discourse on reconciliation between Australia's settled population and Aboriginal people. The pervasive myth in politics and public policy is that the concept of Australia's sovereignty is highly incompatible with the concept of Aboriginal self-determination, because the former can only mean secession, and shy of that, it is impossible for Australia to have a treaty with itself. However, using an expansive view of self-determination, one commonly accepted historically and abroad, this paper demonstrates how Aboriginal self-determination can actually strengthen Australia's international sovereignty and internal politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which electorates receive targeted funding, and does targeted funding swing votes? To answer these questions, I analyze four discretionary programs funded by the Australian federal government during the 2001–2004 election cycle. Controlling for relevant demographic characteristics of the electorate, those electorates held by the governing coalition received a larger share of discretionary funding, and a larger number of program grants. Among government seats, funding does not appear to have been directed towards those that were more marginal. More discretionary funding—particularly on road-building—was associated with a larger swing towards the government in the 2004 election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Lave and Wenger's Communities of Practice is presented as a conceptual framework for examining extracurricular activities as a part of democratic schools' contribution to students' civic engagement. Data from the IEA Civic Education Study is analyzed to investigate research questions on the association between participation in two civic communities of practice (student council and volunteer organizations) and two types of expected adult political participation as well as trust in political institutions in Australia and the United States. Method/approach: The methodology examined data from students in nationally representative samples of schools that surveyed 14-year-olds in 1999. This was the most recent large scale study of civic education in which these two countries participated. Analysis of variance examined main effects and statistical interactions, especially by gender. Findings: Findings were that in both countries, participation in the two civic communities of practice was associated with higher levels of trust in political institutions and greater expectations to become an informed voter and an active citizen. The results also suggest that male and female students in the United States experience these communities of practice in different ways. Practical advantages to encouraging democratic communities of practice are important to the experience of democracy at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the rise in inequality in Australia due to global changes in the distribution of marginal productivity or changes in the allocation of political favours? This article lays out the arguments for both views. Looking at the tax and subsidy changes that favour the rich, and considering that almost all the 200 richest Australians look like the beneficiaries of political favours rather than innovators or superstars, the article concludes that inequality is probably increasing due to changes in the political realm. The discussion outlines a research agenda and possible counter-moves, such as more direct democracy and having open markets for political favours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard treatments of the politics of taxation and the determinants of the size of government draw on the median voter theorem, which assumes that the voting population is effectively a single electorate (see, for example, Meltzer and Richard, 1981). However, in a multi-electorate political system such as Australia's, the policy preferred by the median voter of the entire population will not be stable -- the bliss point of the overall median voter will not emerge as a Condorcet winner in a series of pairwise multi-electorate contests. Instead, the Condorcet winner is found by identifying the median voter in each separate electorate, arranging these medians in increasing order, then identifying the median of these medians. The policy distance between this 'median of medians' and the overall median can be very large. In other words, it is possible for 'extreme' policies to emerge as political equilibria. The article discusses the implications of these results for political competition, taxation policy and the size of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Australia's federal system subnational governments fund the delivery of a wide range of public services. In particular, state and territory governments have increasingly looked to the non-profit sector to deliver human services under contract. Over time, the contracting regimes employed by public sector commissioners have taken on more 'relational' characteristics, accompanied by a gradual softening of public sector resistance to non-profit sector input into policy development. Nevertheless, the Australian non-profit sector is fragmented and, although policy capacity within the sector has undoubtedly matured, it is also unevenly distributed. Almost two decades of contracting has left its mark on organisational culture. There are fears within the non-profit sector that it is organisations with the largest 'market share' that gain a seat at the policy table. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the efforts to reform the federal government of Australia. It examines the results of a review process headed by Terry Moran, Australia's Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet which consisted of input from a heavyweight task force, an internal reference group, discussion papers, and international benchmarking exercises. In "Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration," the goal to reform calls for the Australian Public Service (APS) to become the most high-performing, strategic, and forward-looking organization in the world. Key initiatives involve meeting the needs of citizens, strong and strategic leadership, a highly capable and empowered workforce, and high standard of operations.

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The formation of interest groups is path-dependent. The ideology and thus behavior of interest groups cannot be isolated from history, customs, economic conditions and changing alternatives open to individuals, In Australia, there were historical and traditional divisions concerning farmers producing for international markets that depend on flexible world prices and those producing for the domestic market with stabilized and subsidized prices. The National Farmers Federation (NFF) (1979) is the result of a historical-evolutionary-developmental process of preceding agricultural interest groups. Hence, an understanding of the NFF ideology that promotes free competition and the elimination of agricultural subsidies worldwide, in contrast to the agricultural interest groups in the United States and UK, requires an examination, using an institutional and economic complexity approach, of the evolution of agricultural interest groups in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the effect of skills shortages on employment in Australia. Information about the political situation in Australia and the promises made by the two political parties regarding education policy is provided. The opinions of these parties regarding the validity of an Australian skills shortage are examined and the shortage's possible effect on unemployment and inflation is described. The author also explores Australian wage levels and examines whether adult education will increase the number of skilled employees in Australia.

For nearly 12 years from 1996, the Australian government pursued a neoliberal industrial relations agenda, seeking to break with structures based on collective bargaining and trade unions. In the name of choice and deregulation, this agenda involved unique levels of state intervention and prescription — and anti-unionism. In the last round of legislative change, the 2005 laws badged as Work Choices, the government overreached itself and in 2007 was defeated in a general election. As in the UK after Thatcher, the extent to which collective bargaining can be restored and trade unions regain a voice is problematical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that since the election of his Coalition government in 1996, John Howard and his conservative allies in government and the media have waged a long campaign to influence the representation and public understanding of Australian history. They have sought to play down the historical harm done to Indigenous Australians and to emphasize more affirming stories of the rise of a new, democratic nation. The conservatives' waging of the "history wars" has been motivated by neoconservative ideology imported from the United States, the political interests of the Coalition government, and the personal background and convictions of the prime minister. Despite sustained criticism of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as well as the National Museum of Australia and many academic historians, and despite attempts to institute a national history curriculum, this article concludes that the history wars, for all their smoke and fury, have had only transient effects on the practice of Australian history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author focuses on Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the Australian government's policy of "safeguarding Australia," or increasing national security measures, and how it affects women's rights and access to services. According to the author, the government's policy of controlling public services and social groups is part of the government's "politics of fear." The author offers a discussion of protective masculinity that seeks to both dominate and protect women in relation to the connection of women and the state. The author examines the government's funding of national security programs, the government's policy on violence against women and family laws, and the decline of feminist organizations and women's advocacy groups in Australia.

This article examines the determinants of Australia's response to emergencies and natural disasters. It examines the response from the Australian public by examining contributions made to the appeals of the country's largest Non-Governmental Organisation: World Vision of Australia. It also examines the response of the Australian Government. The data include 43 emergencies and natural disasters since 1998. Results suggest that the responses from both the public and government are positively associated with the number of people affected, media coverage, and the level of political and civil freedom in the country where the event occurred. The type and location of the emergency or disaster are important for the public's response. Differences between public and government donations exist: support from the Australian Government is positively associated with smaller countries and there is some evidence that the public donates more to events occurring in larger and poorer countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares the welfare state system and personal social services in Great Britain and Australia. Degree of convergence between welfare states as a result of global economic forces; Framework to describe changes in the countries' social welfare since the 1970s.