Policy Forum Pod

Trust in democracy is falling in Western countries – including Australia. On one side, we see growing protests about the government’s response to climate change, while at the other extreme people are feeling increasingly disengaged by politics. So on this week’s Policy Forum Pod we ask, how can we make sure that the voice of citizens is heard in policy? To tackle this question, we’re joined by Associate Professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Associate Professor Carolyn Hendriks, and Peter Martin. The panel also discuss Scott Morrison’s clampdown on environmental protesters, and why social media has hampered rather than helped productive political dialogue.

Pod presenters Professor Quentin Grafton and Julia Ahrens also discuss the reaction to Quentin’s call for Australia to declare a ‘water emergency’, welcome some of our new Facebook group friends, and look at some of your questions and comments.

Carolyn Hendriks is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Governance, at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. Her work examines the democratic aspects of contemporary governance.

Jennifer Lees-Marshment is an Associate Professor in political science at The University of Auckland in New Zealand. Author/editor of 13 books, she is a world expert in political marketing with additional research interests in public input, leadership, and governance.

Peter Martin is a Visiting Fellow at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy and the Business and Economy Editor of The Conversation. A former Commonwealth Treasury official, he has worked as economics correspondent for the ABC, as economics editor of The Age, and as host of The Economists on ABC Radio National.

Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics at Crawford School, an ANU Public Policy Fellow, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.

Julia Ahrens is a presenter on Policy Forum Pod.

Show notes | The following were referred to in this episode:

Declaring a water emergency - Quentin Grafton and John Williams (Policy Forum)

Scott Morrison on climate protesters

Richard Nixon on ‘forgotten Americans’

The Ministry of Public Input (Jennifer Lees-Marshment)

Inquiry into the Economics of Energy Generation (NSW)

Podcast: Illicit drug policy - more harm than good?

Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected]. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook...

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Over the past decades, Australia has lacked stability in its climate policy even as climate change becomes impossible for the world to ignore. With Australian voters heading to the polls this Saturday, does the country have the policy promises it needs to spark an energy change? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Ken Baldwin, Kylie Catchpole, and Mark Kenny look at how Australia can transition to renewables even without a strong policy framework to lead the way.

Ken Baldwin is Director of the Energy Change Institute at ANU, and Deputy Director of the Research School of Physics and Engineering. Since 2011, he has been a member of the Project Steering Committee for the Australian Energy Technology, and since 2014, he has been a Board member of the South East Region of Renewable Energy Excellence.

Kylie Catchpole is at the Research School of Engineering at the Australian National University. Her research interests are in nanotechnology and new materials for solar cell applications. She has a physics degree from the ANU, winning a University Medal, and a PhD from the ANU.

Mark Kenny is a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times. He is also the presenter of Policy Forum's Democracy Sausage podcast.

Our presenters – Quentin Grafton and Martyn Pearce – also discuss the upcoming election, and the difficulties in understanding multiple policies when trying to cast an informed vote. They also go through some of your recent comments and pod topic suggestions.

Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics at Crawford School, an ANU Public Policy Fellow, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.

Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.

Show notes | The following were mentioned in this episode:

Dividend Imputation Credits (franking credits and tax system proposed by Labor Party)
Labor Party’s Fair Go Action Plan
Even greater budget surplus revealed by Labor
Democracy Sausage podcast: Voter fatigue and the fight to the finish line
Policy Forum Pod Facebook Group
Australia’s 2030 climate change target
Worldwide student climate strike
Greta Thunberg at World Economic Forum in Davos
Lowy Institute poll on attitudes towards climate change
National Energy Guarantee (NEG)
Tony Abbott scraps carbon tax
Emissions intensity scheme removed by Turnbull...

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You asked, we answered! This week on Policy Forum Pod, we celebrate 100 episodes by responding to your questions with a bit of help from some of our friends around The Australian National University. The Pod tackles specific issues including climate change, the upcoming Australian election, and the electricity market. We also take a look at the viability of high-speed rail, the overcrowding of cities, and whether Australia has to make a China choice. But we also tackle some less obvious policy issues – from how to eat quiche, to the merits (or otherwise) of pineapple on pizza.

Tackling your questions this week are Policy Forum Pod regulars Sharon Bessell, Paul Wyrwoll, Julia Ahrens, and Martyn Pearce. We were also delighted to be joined by a very special guest – Jodie-Lee Trembath, Managing Editor of the brilliant The Familiar Strange podcast and blog.

Helping the panel answer the questions is a stellar cast of experts from around ANU, including Professor Richard Rigby, Mark Kenny, Dr Liz Allen, Associate Professor Paul Burke, Professor Quentin Grafton, and Dr Leo Dobes.

This week’s panel consists of:

Sharon Bessell is the Director of the Children’s Policy Centre at Crawford School, the ANU lead on the Individual Deprivation Measure Project, and Editor of Policy Forum’s Poverty: In Focus section.

Jodie-Lee Trembath is Managing Editor of The Familiar Strange. She is also an ANU PhD Candidate using organisational ethnography to explore the anthropology of universities and transnational mobility of academics.

Paul Wyrwoll is an environmental and resources economist at Crawford School. Previously, Paul was General Manager of the FE2W Network and Managing Editor of the Global Water Forum.

Julia Ahrens is a presenter on Policy Forum Pod.

Martyn Pearce is Editor of Policy Forum.

Guests featured in this episode include:

Richard Rigby is Associate Director of ANU's China in the World Institute within the College of Asia and the Pacific.

Mark Kenny is a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Liz Allen is a demographer and social researcher with quantitative and qualitative expertise at The Australian National University.

Paul Burke is an economist focusing on energy, the environment, transport, and developing countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. His research includes policies for zero-carbon energy in the Asia-Pacific and Australia’s energy transition.

Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics and ANU Public Policy Fellow at Crawford School, and Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.

Leo Dobes is an Honorary Associate Professor with Crawford School. Following a DPhil (Oxford) in East European economics, he worked in the Australian Public Service for almost 30 years, much of it at the Senior Executive Service level.

Show notes | The following were referred to in this episode:

US elections 2020

Trump’s campaign promises

Australian Federal Budget 2019-20

Podcast: Getting the public service fit for the future

Some research on public service motivation

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From Davos to Capitol Hill, there’s been a lot of talk recently about the mega-rich and whether they are paying their fair share in society. But are high taxes the best way to address disparity between billionaires and the rest of society? Our panel this week – Robert Breunig, Ida Kubiszewski, and Sharon Bessell – take a look at the roles and responsibilities of government and billionaires, tax systems and tax havens, and the impact of income inequality on both society and individuals.

You’ll also hear from our presenters Bob Cotton, Julia Ahrens, and Martyn Pearce, who have a look at election campaigning in Australia, Royal Commissions, and the survey this week that revealed the high level of violence against school principals. They also discuss some of the comments, questions and suggestions our listeners have left us online.

This week’s panel consists of:

Robert Breunig is a Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, and is also the director of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute. He conducts research in three main areas: economics of the household; empirical industrial organisation; and statistical and econometric theory.

Ida Kubiszewski is a Senior Lecturer at Crawford School. Prior to this, she was an Assistant Research Professor and Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, Portland State University. She is the managing editor of magazine/journal hybrid Solutions and the managing editor and a co-editor-in-chief of the academic journal Reviews in Ecological Economics. She is also a co-founder and former-managing editor of the Encyclopedia of Earth.

Sharon Bessell is the Director of the Children’s Policy Centre at Crawford School, and Editor of Policy Forum’s Poverty: In Focus section.

Our presenters for this week’s podcast are:

Bob Cotton is a Visiting Fellow at Crawford School. He has a strong interest in public policy issues, including Australia’s engagement in the Asia Pacific Region. He is a mentor at the National Security College.

Julia Ahrens is a Communications and Engagement Coordinator at Crawford School and a presenter for Policy Forum Pod. She is also an Associate Researcher at the European Institute for Asian Studies in Brussels.

Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.

Show notes | The following were referred to in this episode:

Australia’s upcoming federal elections

Timeline of George Pell’s offences

Final report from Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Kenneth Hayne’s banking royal commission report

Survey revealing abuse against principal’s

Background paper from royal commission into aged care

2,754 billionaires as of 2017

Oxfam’s report released in January 2019

Panama and paradise papers on tax avoidance

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The ANU Grand Challenges competition offers up to $10 million to research that tackles the world’s most important and intractable problems. This year’s winners are working on what might just be the grandest challenge of all – how to decarbonise the world’s energy supply to prevent a climate catastrophe.

On this week’s podcast, hosts Maya Bhandari and Bob Cotton hear from three members of the winning research team about their plan to help Australia deliver zero-carbon energy to the Asia-Pacific region.

Topics discussed include how underwater sea cables could link Australia and Southeast Asia, why East Asian demand for hydrogen energy could reduce the power of the coal lobby, and what a multi-billion dollar renewable export industry would mean for the Australian economy.

Emma Aisbett is a Senior Research Fellow at the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods and an Adjunct Lecturer at Crawford School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on economic globalisation, environmental policy, developing countries, and political economy.

Paul Burke is an economist focusing on energy, the environment, transport and developing countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. His research includes policies for zero-carbon energy in the Asia-Pacific and Australia’s energy transition.

Matt Stocks is a Fellow at the Research School of Engineering. He has more than 20 years of research and development experience in renewable energy and photovoltaics.

Show notes | The following were referred to in this episode:

The ANU Grand Challenges Scheme

Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific - The Energy Change Institute's winning project for the 2018 ANU Grand Challenges Scheme

Does it really matter if Trump pulls the US out of the World Trade Organization? by Peter Drahos

Zero car growth: only in Singapore? by Singfat Chu

Planning for the worst by Anthony Bergin

The Crawford Master of Public Policy in Environment Policy offered by Crawford School and convened by Llewellyn Hughes

Policy Forum Pod is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to [email protected]. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or find us on Facebook.

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