The Wellspring

As part of our homework for the Australia 2020 Summit, delegates were asked to prepare a response to the question: “If you could do one thing in your stream area, what would it be? What is it that you think would make the most difference?”

Here is my response (I’m in the Future of Australian Governance stream). I would really welcome any comments.

The Australia Commitments
Like the Millennium Development Goals, but for Australia

The longest period of economic growth in our nation’s history calls for a new set of national commitments to promote social progress and realise better standards of living for all Australians.

The Australia Commitments would be a short and memorable set of national development goals, including - importantly - indicators by which Australians can continually monitor progress. They would be long-term, outcome-focused, and measurable - but above all, they would display an unprecedented audacity.

Together, they would serve as a new blueprint to galvanise attention and energy to solving our most pressing, basic problems, ensuring that no Australian lives in poverty, that indigenous Australians enjoy health equality, that our children will have clean air and clean water, that they can all go to good schools and universities and rely on comprehensive healthcare.

The Commitments would offer a radical vision for Australia’s prosperity beyond the individual electoral cycle. Setting such demanding targets would give Australians a more hopeful vision of government, ambitious and optimistic, and in doing so, help reinvigorate public confidence in our nation’s political system.

Update (13 April): My idea is now on the GetUp! Australia 2020 Summit ideas forum for voting. This post will remain the first post on the blog for the next few days to allow for easy access. Regular posting will continue below.

Update (16 April): Okay, so this is totally cheating, but I absolutely love this idea and couldn’t resist. I’ve adapted it from an idea from the GetUp! ideas forum:

Taxpayer-directed Funding
Every tax return should include a section asking whether the individual would like to allocate a small amount of their tax to one of any number of government-funded programmes. These could conceivably include initiatives such as Landcare and Coastcare, the ABC and SBS, the Commonwealth Scholarships Programme for universities, overseas emergency and humanitarian assistance, etc. Some information on each of the programmes would be included.

The funds received through this mechanism would be additional to any regular funding (which would be protected from any government cuts that might occur in anticipation of this additional funding). Additionally, the amount able to be donated by each taxpayer would have to be significant enough to outweigh the costs of administering such a system, but not too large so as to give the rich a way to disproportionately affect government spending and policy.

This mechanism would give everyday taxpayers a more intimate interest, and a more substantial and regular say, in how the nation is governed. It would be a powerful tool to provide regular direction to our representatives on the issues on which taxpayers would like action. And, as it establishes a clear monetary link between taxpayers and political action, it might in time persuade more people to take an interest in the priorities of government.