Arts (Political Science) & Economics 2016
Policy Statement
First we Change how we Think
The middle way, golden mean, straight path, Tao; great teachers throughout history have defined ideals in terms of balance. But the modern world has forgotten this. Instead, liberal individualism dominates both sides of politics. But we are both individual and community; our identity and rights derive from both sources. We are competitive and cooperative; each of these on its own destroys the other, but with balance, they become mutually supportive.
Liberal individualism has built a society of isolated individuals. These are often found sitting in a car and suffering existential crises. Concepts of polarity and balance allow us to reconstruct ideals in governance, economics and social policy in support of a better world. This represents a true centrism, supporting a program of extensive, yet careful and methodical reform.
With reform, we need to think big and long term. In this way, we can build a picture of an ideal society, not just for Queensland and Australia, but for the whole world. Big thinking gives us long term goals, with a ‘great work’ for people to get behind, while providing direction for short-term policy making.
A polar method also gives us insight into current politics and where it’s going wrong. Of particular concern, on the left, progressive liberalism has led a divisive debate on identity politics, where everyone outside the clique is labelled racist, misogynist, homophobe etc. On the right, a deep hypocrisy is found when a supposedly more conservative, look-after-our-own ethic is paired with sell-out-your-neighbours, rich-get-richer-while-the-planet-dies capitalism.
Governance
Move toward a more directly democratic political system, tiered up from the small neighbourhood through villages/suburbs, towns and city states to the global scale. Local autonomy supported from above, central government controlled from below. Subsidiarity involves local administration of local issues.
Support people to build tiered up governance capacity through neighbourhoods, suburbs, etc. This enables;
a vibrant local economy, with both private and commonly owned businesses.
local administration of services such as education, healthcare, aged care, road maintenance, even policing.
the supply of housing and other welfare support.
Look to redraw state boundaries in favour of ‘city-states’. This could include north Qld, central Qld, greater Brisbane, and the Gold Coast with northern NSW.
Cross-party, collegial and more consensus based, stable government, including at the national scale.
Lay the groundwork for a future Indo-Pacific political union.
Prioritise Indo-Pacific residents for work and student visas, and prefer them for immigration and trade.
Work to build local governance and economic capacity, and to support minimum welfare standards across the Indo-Pacific.
Promote world government with the global rule of law.
To support welfare standards and security for all people.
To manage common interests in the atmosphere, oceans, biodiversity.
To better pursue scientific research in medicine, space travel, etc.
A global rule of law enables world peace, allowing for the steady dismantling of national militaries.
On the streets of Brisbane!
Economics
With balance, cooperation provides the welfare-supporting base to the economy. Competitive, private business is then layered over that base. Key to well balanced economic reform is to support vibrant, diverse local economies to the neighbourhood scale, enabling more local patterns to daily life.
Extensive government investment, local to broad scale, in productive and other assets.
A work debt (also payable in cash) provides the foundation of the tax system.
A local job guarantee, administered locally.
Trade tariffs applied to the neighbourhood scale supports diverse local businesses.
Incentives for growing businesses to cooperate locally, (while continuing to compete externally). This drives renewal and efficiency within the cooperative economy, and supports socially responsible private businesses to flourish.
Strong local economies means that city-states can be relatively self-reliant.
Incentives that encourage local investment, leading to both the private and collective local ownership of local assets.
A wealth tax, capping the gap between the rich and poor.
A well balanced economy does not need ongoing growth to be healthy.
Foreign Policy
Enable world government with the global rule of law.
Look toward a future Indo-Pacific political union.
Support geo-regional political unions (eg South America, South-East Asia) as an intermediate level of government between smaller nations and a global society.
Increased regional and global institutional capacity to support vulnerable people including refugees.
Don’t vote Greens. Greens continue to support the awful policy of ‘onshore processing’. Last time we tried it, 55,000 asylum seekers were led onto boats, resulting in 1,200 deaths at sea.
A substantially smaller Israel and a free Palestine, with an international police force to control the missile shield and enable regional disarmament.
Bring the peace with Russia. Encourage reforms toward a future political union for Eastern Europe/Russia.
Taiwan is more Chinese, Tibet is less. The campaign against the Uyghurs is horrendous.
Cancel AUKUS and work to end the arms race.
Climate change requires a concerted global effort to prevent worsening damage. Reform includes supporting more sustainable, local patterns to daily life.
Aboriginal Politics
Enable a multi-generational project of building a pan-Australian Aboriginal nation. With increasing capacity, this can directly administer significant territory, especially across the north of the continent, and with territory in every traditional jurisdiction. The broader, new-world Australia can then be leased from that Aboriginal ‘parent nation’.
Ceremonial head of state for Australia and its states to be Aboriginal.
A new flag and other symbols to reflect a reconstructed, post-colonial Australia.
Move to redraw states, including with respect to traditional Aboriginal jurisdictions.
Build local identity and connection-to-place with increased studies in Aboriginal language and culture.
Enable local governance and economic capacity in Aboriginal communities.
Environment
The ecological health of Australia and the world has been egregiously damaged, not least by a poorly conceived economic system.
Climate change is real. It has resulted from a failure of governance and represents a very serious threat requiring a globally coordinated response.
Enable more sustainable, local patterns to daily life through local governance and economics.
Work to protect biodiversity in forests and other ecosystems.
Australia does not need nuclear power and probably never will.
Identity Politics & Ending the Culture Wars
It is important to maintain that in their diversity, people deserve respect. A problem has developed however, in that progressive politics has become cliquey with ‘woke’ political correctness. This clique is supported by the shaming of outsiders with widespread, ‘boy-who-cried-wolf’ accusations of racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. The result of this has been to shut down moderate dialogue and blow wind into the sails of the extreme right. The solution is to build up the middle ground through enabling moderate, well-intentioned dialogue.
Race politics
We need to have a talk about multiculturalism. Liberal individualism suggests that we cannot exclude any person based on race. But actually, we are both individual and community, with our rights and identity deriving from both sources. Liberalism has created a society of increasingly isolated individuals. This has also undermined cultural identity and social cohesion within the still dominant Anglo-Saxon community. It is time to slow the advance of multiculturalism and focus instead on building community back into our society. That said, we are a nation of diverse immigrants. Polarity suggests supporting both the cultural ‘melting pot’, with integration in a cosmopolitan public space, and the ‘salad bowl’, with more ethnically homogeneous communities within the broader society.
We also need to shift the window of what is acceptable dialogue in relation to Aboriginal Australia. It is only together, through enabling inclusive dialogue, that we can look toward a great work of building a post-colonial nation. Supporters of that cause cannot rely on conceptually weak, us-vs-them, woke sentiment, where well-intentioned opinions are restricted by a broken liberal ideology. Instead we need to encourage people to discuss currently difficult concepts such as: ‘The principle cause of high rates of Aboriginal imprisonment is high rates of Aboriginal crime.’ or ‘Many who identify as Aboriginal are in large part ethnically and culturally Anglo-Saxon.’
Gender Politics
I support people in their expression of diverse sexual or gender identity. In recent years, however, vocal advocacy for individual choice has sometimes flipped over into effectively encouraging people to question that identity. This has led to a spike in gender-based existential crises especially amongst younger people. We need to be allowed to discover our identities slowly and gently. This includes with how we define ourselves and how we are defined by our bodies and communities.
I support the advancement of women toward equal opportunity in education, workplaces and in positions of power. With moderate attitudes, we can look to continue with the already substantial reforms. But it is only dialectics to say that if we push too hard, such as with elements of the ‘me-too’ campaign, it leads to push-back and conflict. It is better where possible if we can reach across what might otherwise divide us, and work together.
Other Policies
Look to a future referendum to rebuild the constitution. This includes;
Australia to become a Republic.
Recognising pre-existing Aboriginal sovereignty, and making a treaty.
Redrawing state boundaries in favour of ‘city-states.’
Reforming governance in favour of a tiered-up, more directly democratic system.
Get pornos off our computers. Successive governments have allowed that industry to thrive, placing hardcore pornography within easy reach of every Australian. This includes children. Free internet pornography needs to be blanket censored.
Reform the family court and domestic violence system. Women and children need protection from dangerous men. But to help take the heat out of family breakdowns, part of that essential work is to give men hope that the system will treat them fairly. Courts are currently widely abused, with the state complicit, by women who see it as their privilege to determine when and if a child will see its father.
A new police power to return children to their (usually) fathers if the situation is deemed safe.
Decriminalise recreational drug use. Drug abuse is a health rather than a criminal issue.
Reduce the factory farming of animals through increased local economic capacity and other policies.
Gambling reform, including restrictions on advertising and poker machines.