Voter behaviour and constitutional change in Australia since 1967

Australian Constitutional referendums have been part of the Australian political system since federation. Up to the year 1999 (the time of the last referendum in Australia), constitutional change in Australia does not have a good history of acceptance. Since 1901, there have been 44 proposed constitutional changes with eight gaining the required acceptance according to section 128 of the Australian Constitution. In the modern era since 1967, there have been 20 proposals over seven referendum votes for a total of four changes. Over this same period, there have been 13 federal general elections which have realised change in government just five times. This research examines the electoral behaviour of Australian voters from 1967 to 1999 for each referendum. Party identification has long been a key indicator in general election voting. This research considers whether the dominant theory of voter behaviour in general elections (the Michigan Model) provides a plausible explanation for voting in Australian referendums. In order to explain electoral behaviour in each referendum, this research has utilised available data from the Australian Electoral Commission, the 1996 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, and the 1999 Australian Constitutional Referendum Study. This data has provided the necessary variables required to measure the impact of the Michigan Model of voter behaviour. Measurements have been conducted using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Each referendum provides an overview of the events at the time of the referendum as well as the =yes‘ and =no‘ cases at the time each referendum was initiated. Results from this research provide support for the Michigan Model of voter behaviour in Australian referendum voting. This research concludes that party identification, as a key variable of the Michigan Model, shows that voters continue to take their cues for voting from the political party they identify with in Australian referendums. However, the outcome of Australian referendums clearly shows that partisanship is only one of a number of contributory factors in constitutional referendums.

Mitigating Democracy and 'A Question on Reason'

This book details the early political philosophy of Jean-Paul Gagnon. It deals with the ideas of democracy as something endemic to human nature; with practical methods for the improvement of democracy; and a mix of other political concepts. The book also has a response to the Russian Federation's development of the 'mother of all bombs' which leads Gagnon to question reason itself in humanity's progress.

EUAustralia Online : News & Information from the Capitals of Europe to Australia (www.euaustralia.com)

Experimental / pilot online journalistic publication. EUAustralia Online (www.euaustralia.com) is a pilot niche publication identifying and demonstrating dynamics of online journalism. The editor, an experienced and senior journalist and academic, specialist in European studies, commenced publication on 28.8.06 during one year’s “industry immersion” -- with media accreditation to the European Commission, Brussels. Reporting now is from Australia and from Europe on field trip exercises. Student editors participate making it partly a training operation. EUAustralia demonstrates adaptation of conventional, universal, “Western” liberal journalistic practices. Its first premise is to fill a knowledge gap in Australia about the European Union -- institutions, functions and directions. The second premise is to test the communications capacity of the online format, where the publication sets a strong standard of journalistic credibility – hence its transparency with sourcing or signposting of “commentary” or ”opinion”. EUAustralia uses modified, enhanced weblog software allowing for future allocation of closed pages to subscribers. An early exemplar of its kind, with modest upload rate (2010-13 average, 16 postings monthly), esteemed, it commands over 180000 site visits p.a. (half as unique visitors; AWB Statistics); strongly rated by search engines, see page one Googlr placements for “EU Australia”. Comment by the ISP (SeventhVision, Broadbeach, Queensland): “The site has good search engine recognition because seen as credible; can be used to generate revenue”. This journalistic exercise has been analysed in theoretical context twice, in published refereed conference proceedings (Communication and Media Policy Forum, Sydney; 2007, 2009).

Nitrous oxide emissions from irrigated cotton soils of northern Australia

An automated gas sampling methodology has been used to estimate nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from heavy black clay soil in northern Australia where split applications of urea were applied to furrow irrigated cotton. Nitrous oxide emissions from the beds were 643 g N/ha over the 188 day measurement period (after planting), whilst the N2O emissions from the furrows were significantly higher at 967 g N/ha. The DNDC model was used to develop a full season simulation of N2O and N2 emissions. Seasonal N2O emissions were equivalent to 0.83% of applied N, with total gaseous N losses (excluding NH3) estimated to be 16% of the applied N.

How I became the first Aboriginal person in Australia to lead a national education organisation

In this paper, Bronwyn Fredericks reflects on how, in 1997, she became the National President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations Inc. (CAPA). The paper describes the election process faced by Fredericks, and identifies some of her key achievements during her time as National President. In becoming the National President, Bronwyn became the first Aboriginal person in Australia to lead a national education organisation. The story within this paper is told from the author’s autobiographical memory, drawing on the cultural, social and political context in which the story and the author were (and are) situated (Wojecki 2007). In this way the story teller reveals story lines which have not previously been articulated (Wojecki 2007). Throughout this paper, Fredericks ‘re-stories’ her experiences of leadership.

International journalism and democracy : civic engagement models from around the world

"International Journalism and Democracy" explores a new form of journalism that has been dubbed ‘deliberative journalism’. As the name suggests, these forms of journalism support deliberation — the processes in which citizens recognize and discuss the issues that affect their communities, appraise the potential responses to those issues, and make decisions about whether and how to take action. Authors from across the globe identify the types of journalism that assist deliberative politics in different cultural and political contexts. Case studies from 15 nations spotlight different approaches to deliberative journalism, including strategies that have been sometimes been labeled as public or civic journalism, peace journalism, development journalism, citizen journalism, the street press, community journalism, social entrepreneurism, or other names. Countries that are studied in-depth include the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, Colombia and Puerto Rico. Each of the approaches that are described offers a distinctive potential to support deliberative democracy. However, the book does not present any of these models or case studies as examples of categorical success. Instead, it explores different elements of the nature, strengths, limitations and challenges of each approach, as well as issues affecting their longer-term sustainability and effectiveness. The book also describes the underlying principles of deliberation, the media’s potential role in deliberation from a theoretical and practical perspective, and ongoing issues for deliberative media practitioners.

Defending the patch : a labour geography analysis of unions’ construction of and responses to the problem of declining union membership amongst youth

If the trade union movement is to remain an influential force in the industrial, economic and socio/political arenas of industrialised nations it is vital that its recruitment of young members improve dramatically. Australian union membership levels have declined markedly over the last three decades and youth union membership levels have decreased more than any age group. Currently around 10% of young workers aged between 16-24 years are members of unions in Australia compared to 26% of workers aged 45-58 (Oliver, 2008). This decline has occurred throughout the union movement, in all states and in almost all industries and occupations. This research, which consists of interviews with union organisers and union officials, draws on perspectives from the labour geography literature to explore how union personnel located in various places, spaces and scales construct the issue of declining youth union membership. It explores the scale of connections within the labour movement and the extent to which these connections are leveraged to address the problem of youth union membership decline. To offer the reader a sense of context and perspective, the thesis firstly outlines the historical development of the union movement. It also reviews the literature on youth membership decline. Labour geography offers a rich and apposite analytical tool for investigation of this area. The notion of ‘scale’ as a dynamic, interactive, constructed and reconstructed entity (Ellem, 2006) is an appropriate lens for viewing youth-union membership issues. In this non-linear view, scale is a relational element which interplays with space, place and the environment (Howett, in Marston, 2000) rather than being ‘sequential’ and hierarchical. Importantly, the thesis investigates the notion of unions as ‘spaces of dependence’ (Cox, 1998a, p.2), organisations whose space is centred upon realising essential interests. It also considers the quality of unions’ interactions with others – their ‘spaces of engagement‘(Cox, 1998a, p.2), and the impact that this has upon their ability to recruit youth. The findings reveal that most respondents across the spectrum of the union movement attribute the decline in youth membership levels to factors external to the movement itself, such as changes to industrial relations legislation and the impact of globalisation on employment markets. However, participants also attribute responsibility for declining membership levels to the union movement itself, citing factors such as a lack of resourcing and a need to change unions’ perceived identity and methods of operation. The research further determined that networks of connections across the union movement are tenuous and, to date, are not being fully utilised to assist unions to overcome the youth recruitment dilemma. The study concludes that potential connections between unions are hampered by poor resourcing, workload issues and some deeply entrenched attitudes related to unions ‘defending (and maintaining) their patch’.

An interview with Dr. Benjamin Isakhan : on the alternative histories of democracy

Dr. Isakahn is currently a research associate with the Centre for Dialogue at La Trobe University in Australia. His latest works include several forthcoming books: Democracy in Iraq is a monograph soon to be released; whilst The Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy and The Secret History of Democracy, both done in concert with Stephen Stockwell, are edited collections. His most recent articles include “Targeting the Symbolic Dimension of Baathist Iraq,” “Measuring Islam in Australia” and “Manufacturing Consent in Iraq.” For further information regarding Dr. Isakhan and his works, please visit his website, www.benjaminisakhan.com.

Access to medicine and the dangers of patent linkage : lessons from Bayer Corp v. Union of India

In February 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered its decision in Bayer Corp v Union of India in which Bayer had appealed against an August 2009 decision of the same court. Both decisions prevented Bayer from introducing the concept of patent linkage into India’s drug regulatory regime. Bayer appealed to the Indian Supreme Court, the highest court in India, which agreed on 2 March 2010 to hear the appeal. Given that India is regarded as a global pharmaceutical manufacturer of generic medications, how its judiciary and government perceive their international obligations has a significant impact on the global access to medicines regime. In rejecting the application of patent linkage, the case provides an opportunity for India to further acknowledge its international human rights obligations.

Culture and creative industries in Australia

It has been argued that the origins of modern creative industries policies can be found in Australia. The Creative Nation national cultural policy statement released by the Labor government headed by the Prime Minister Paul Keating in 1994 sought an original synthesis of arts and media policies that was outwardly looking, identifying the opportunities presented by what were then new digital media technologies, and clearly stated the economic opportunities presented by promotion of what were referred to at the time as the cultural industries. Several commentators have identified the influence that Creative Nation had on the Blair Labour government when it came to power in the United Kingdom in 1997. Faced with the question of how to revitalise the once-mighty industrial cities of the U.K. after the Conservative government, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport drew upon policy documents such as Australia’s Creative Nation, as well as the experience of local governments in these cities, in looking to the cultural sectors to spearhead new jobs growth, as well as re-branding the cities as cultural or creative cities in a post-industrial economic landscape. This growing alignment of culture and economics, that has been a characteristic of creative industries policies as they have developed in Australia, Britain, East Asia and Europe, marks an interesting shift in the traditional focus of arts and cultural policy as compensatory to the economic domain. The first Chair of what would become the Arts Council of Great Britain (now the Arts Council of England) was the famous economist John Maynard Keynes. In the First Annual Report of the Arts Council for 1945-1946, prepared in the latter stages of the Second World War, Keynes proposed that “the day is not far off when the economic problem will take the back seat where it belongs, and the arena of the heart and the head will be occupied or reoccupied, by our real problems — the problems of life and of human relations, of creation and behaviour and religion”. 中文摘要 1994年工黨執政時期澳洲總理基挺（Paul Keating）發表創意的國家（The Creative Nation）的文化政策聲明堪稱是澳洲現代創意產業的起源，該聲明試圖將藝術與媒體政策結合在一起，其目的在面向海外，為新數位媒體技術尋找機會。聲明中明確指出要推動文化產業為經濟帶來機會。「文化政策也是經濟政策。文化創造財富與附加價值，對創新、行銷與設計有重要貢獻，是我們工業的標誌（badge）。我們創意的層次實際上決定了我們適應新經濟imperatives的能力。文化本身就是項重要出口，是其他產品出口的主要附件（essential accompaniment）。文化吸引觀光與學生，也是我們經濟成功之關鍵。」 創意產業的策略是構建藝術、媒體與資訊電信科技的網絡以利文化產業在國家創新政策策略中擁有一席之地。此一策略最早是由1990年代末英國布萊爾（Tony Blair）的新工黨政府所採行，其後歐洲聯盟、澳洲、紐西蘭、新加坡、台灣、南韓與中國。

Declining youth membership : the views of union officials

Across the industrialized west there has been a sharp decline in union membership (Frege and Kelly2003, Peetz 2002). Even more alarming are the lower unionization rates of young people and the steeper decline in these rates compared to older workers (Serrano and Waddington 2000). At the same time increasing numbers of young people still at school are participating in the labour market. There have been a number of explorations internationally of young people's union membership, but most either track membership decline over time, comparing adult and youth union density (Blanden and Machin 2003, Bryson et al. 2005, Haynes, Vowles and Boxall 2005, Canny 2002, OECD 2006), explore the general experience of young people in the labour market (for example, Lizen, Bolton and Pole 1999) or examine young people's view of unions (for example, Bulbeck 2008). This chapter however takes a different approach, exploring union officials' constructions of 'the problem' of low union density amongst youth. While the data in this study was obtained from Australia, the Australian context has strong similarities with those in other industrialized economies, not least because globalization has meant the spread of neo-liberal industrial relations (IR) policies and structures. Assuming that unions have choices open to them as to how they recruit and retain young people, it is important to analyse officials' construction of 'the problem', as this affects union strategizing and action.

Connecting Diversity : Paradoxes of Multicultural Australia

Commissioned by SBS, and published in March 2006, Connecting Diversity: Paradoxes of Multicultural Australia is a follow-up study to SBS’s 2002 report, Living Diversity: Australia’s Multicultural Future. The attitudes of many younger Australians from culturally diverse backgrounds reveal paradoxes about Australian multiculturalism today. This report sheds light on their views, experiences and expectations and the role of media in their lives. Younger, culturally and linguistically diverse Australians are often the subject of mediafanned controversy about disaffection, ‘ethnic gangs’ and cultural isolation. While these controversies tend to be localised – Cronulla, Inala or Bankstown – Connecting Diversity tells a national and quite different story. This research builds upon the findings of the 2002 report, Living Diversity: Australia’s Multicultural Future, which challenged common assumptions about contemporary multicultural Australia. In an era of fragmenting media and assumed political apathy, Connecting Diversity further examines many of the findings of the earlier study, with a new focus on younger people, cultural identity and media use. Connecting Diversity reveals individual experiences and often contradictory ideas about media and diversity in Australia. Disjunctions appear to exist between an individual’s experience and their thoughts about Australia’s national identity. Multiculturalism is valued for broadening the appreciation of difference, yet this support can coexist with concerns about perceived segregation, usually ‘elsewhere’ in Australia. Younger people tend to be more comfortable with cultural difference than previous generations and cite their own diverse network of friends as one of the reasons for this. Even so, some describe experiences of racism that engender a feeling of exclusion from ‘mainstream’ society. In their everyday lives, social relationships are navigated through regular and familiar connections on the one hand, and experiences and expressions of disconnection on the other. Racism and tolerance may be expressed almost simultaneously. These disconnections are often managed through ‘practical tolerance',allowing them to negotiate these apparent contradictions. The connections can be based simultaneously on such things as work, family,religion, friendships or location. The result is a multilayered sense of personal belonging and community connection. A large number of respondents in these focus groups expressed frustration at the failings of media, especially news and current affairs coverage, yet spoke enthusiastically about the accessibility and range of media compared to what was available to previous generations. In their many forms, media remain a key ingredient of self-identification among younger Australians of culturally diverse backgrounds who are especially cynical about media and disillusioned by their perceived inability to influence issues that are important to them. These findings reveal that although they may be cynical about media messages, these younger Australians are looking for connection through media and are seeking ways to participate in meaningful ways. This raises questions about the possibilities for media to empower younger people to play a part in genuine cultural democracy. By capturing the attitudes of Australians of culturally diverse backgrounds under the age of 40, Connecting Diversity: Paradoxes of Multicultural Australia provides an insight into social trends and the generational and cultural changes that are now shaping Australia.