Mike Keating and John Menadue (joint editors) Fairness, Opportunity and Security -filling the policy vacuum

There is a growing public disquiet that both the government and the opposition keep playing the political and personal game at the expense of informed public discussion of important policy issues.

As a community we have become concerned about the trustworthiness of our political, business and media elite. Insiders and vested interests are undermining the public interest. Money is unduly influencing political decisions. There is gridlock on important issues like climate change and taxation.

After a near death experience Tony Abbott has said the he is open to new thinking and ways of governing. Time will tell. Bill Shorten has said that 2015 will be the year of ideas. We hope so.

From early May in this blog we will be posting a series of articles on important policy issues. Mike Keating and I will be joint editors.

There will be over 40 policy articles .Each of the articles will be about 2000 words.

They will be realistic, given our political and financial constraints.

It is planned that these policy articles will be published in a book by ATF Press in October/November this year

Policy areas to be canvassed

Economic policy Fixing the budget Taxation Federalism Productivity Job creation and participation Foreign policy Security, both military and soft power Health. Development of our human capital in the fields of education, science, research and development and innovation. Transport and infrastructure Population/migration/refugees Welfare priorities. Retirement incomes Indigenous affairs Communications, the arts, media and culture. Environment and climate change Inequality Role and responsibilities of government Democratic renewal - the lack of trust in government and the hollowing out of our political parties. Internal security and freedom.