Author: Dr Danial Kelly
Public concerns and suspicions about the potential of influence, undue or benign, of political donations seem to be on the rise. Disengagement with mainstream politics by the electorate is manifest, partly due to distrust of politicians and integrity of government. I don’t hear anyone claiming the current state of politics or electoral campaign behaviours to be healthy or conducive to good governance.
Continue reading “Regulating donations to political parties”
Author: Eric Withnall
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (‘ICAC’), as a conceptual part of the Australian legal system, poses an existential threat to corrupt politicians and public servants, and those that deal with them, by redefining the judicial rules of engagement when it comes to sophisticated public graft. Described as a ‘permanent Royal Commission’, a model ICAC can result in unprecedented revelations of corruption at the highest levels of government – albeit at the expense of the legal protections afforded to every Australian by the justice system.
Critics of Northern Territory self-government have sometimes argued that the NT has too small a population to generate the level of talent necessary to form a government and ministry. It’s certainly true that at just on 250,000 the Territory’s population is no larger than some local council areas “down south”.
Author: Ted Dunstan
I congratulate the progenitors of this excellent governance summit, the CDU Law School. It is a concept whose time has come. I note that it is appropriately not yet about statehood, whose time has definitely not come, but several steps before that (which may lead to it). Since self-government there has been a paucity of constitutional development, and such a conference may promote further debate on numerous aspects of Territory governance and surrounding issues.
Author: Vikki McLeod
My political activism was forged as a student at University of Queensland under the shadow of the Bjelke-Petersen Government and the “Police State”.
The police raids on our student houses were common, and they were for no other reason than we were educated and that made us trouble.
