Public Policy
Book Details

Reforming Australia

New Policies for a New Generation

Peter Dawkins and Mike Steketee (eds)

An exploration of the new thinking behind the development of policies for a new generation of Australians.

About this Title

The 2004 election year is a contest of competing images, perceptions and policies with short-term appeal. However, many of the issues which are fundamental to Australia's future are receiving scant attention. This book tackles the challenges which will confront the new generation of leaders.

Large numbers of baby boomers are retiring from the labour force or have already done so. At the same time the fertility rate has been declining. How will we achieve opportunity and prosperity for all Australians with this rising ‘dependency ratio’?

This question became the major theme of the Pursuing Opportunity and Prosperity Conference, organised by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, at the University of Melbourne, and The Australian.

The conference in November, 2003, brought together a varied range of leading thinkers from academia, politics, public service, business, unions and community groups to debate the future policy agenda in the context of an ageing population. Raising labour force participation and sustaining productivity growth emerged as major imperatives to sustain future prosperity.

Participants in the debate, at the conference and in The Australian’s pages, included Reserve Bank Governor Ian Macfarlane, Treasurer Peter Costello, Treasury Secretary Ken Henry, Prime Minister John Howard, Opposition Leader Mark Latham, ACTU Secretary Greg Combet, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward, Shadow Health Minister Julia Gillard and economist Ross Garnaut. Extracts from their contributions, together with those of other major players, are included here.

Policies examined through the intergenerational lens included work and family; the transition from welfare to work; education and innovation; health reform; indigenous development; the future of free trade; new issues in micro-economic reform; and the constraint imposed by the budget.

In Reforming Australia, Peter Dawkins and Mike Steketee, along with other leading academics from the University of Melbourne and journalists from The Australian, draw out the new thinking behind the development of policies for a new generation of Australians.

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978-0-522-85141-0