While I agree with many of the concerns about having given away our sovereignty etc., I worry that agitating for constitutional change will be a huge waste of time. How might we more simply reclaim our voice? Maybe just by talking to our neighbours. When we do that, of course, we find that are neighbours are rather set in their ways, or distracted by day-to-day concerns, and don't particularly want to engage on issues like the future of democracy.
So what about using the internet to connect to other Australians who want to plan for a collective future? That, appears to be what Australian Community Futures Planning is all about, but I haven't seen any large-scale conferences associated with this movement where people come together to learn from one another.
It might be that politicians listening to this audio would say in reply, "Australians have the kind of tokenistic democracy they want - citizens involving themselves in a minimal way with politicians there to blame for everything that goes wrong."
What steps can we take to prove such politicians wrong?
Hi Phil, Yes it is a worry that seeking constitutional change is so hard. But because our Constitution is so old and so inappropriate for a democracy it is not really an option to ignore the massive problems it causes for us all. Constitutional reform is essential, whether we have time for it or not. If it is done the way our governments do it (i.e., piecemeal) will always be a waste of time. And I certainly agree that busy Australians just don't have the time to waste. That said, we have to start somewhere, and I don't think "just talking to our neighbours" will give us either a voice in our democracy or the human rights we are being denied.
ACFP is just a small research company assembling the tools Australians need to be able to establish the democracy they want. So we haven't been able to establish "large-scale conferences" yet; nor has that been part of our work program. The program at the moment is focusing on trialing the Integrated Planning system and figuring out the constitutional changes we will need to ensure people can become involved in a way that is time efficient for them. I always thought this would take at least three federal election cycles to catch on. It's frustrating I know, but patience and persistence is the only option.
As I say in a later part of the essay, this is a big national project, the like of which has never been attempted before and it will be made harder by the times in which we are attempting it. But the fact that we can even contemplate doing it and have the means to set up the IP&R framework is itself progress. The best way to make use of the internet to connect to other Australians is for people like you to spread the word wherever you can. I think there's a pretty good chance that it will catch on. So I suppose that's what I'd suggest in answer to your question about how we can prove politicians wrong.
While I agree with many of the concerns about having given away our sovereignty etc., I worry that agitating for constitutional change will be a huge waste of time. How might we more simply reclaim our voice? Maybe just by talking to our neighbours. When we do that, of course, we find that are neighbours are rather set in their ways, or distracted by day-to-day concerns, and don't particularly want to engage on issues like the future of democracy.
So what about using the internet to connect to other Australians who want to plan for a collective future? That, appears to be what Australian Community Futures Planning is all about, but I haven't seen any large-scale conferences associated with this movement where people come together to learn from one another.
It might be that politicians listening to this audio would say in reply, "Australians have the kind of tokenistic democracy they want - citizens involving themselves in a minimal way with politicians there to blame for everything that goes wrong."
What steps can we take to prove such politicians wrong?
Hi Phil, Yes it is a worry that seeking constitutional change is so hard. But because our Constitution is so old and so inappropriate for a democracy it is not really an option to ignore the massive problems it causes for us all. Constitutional reform is essential, whether we have time for it or not. If it is done the way our governments do it (i.e., piecemeal) will always be a waste of time. And I certainly agree that busy Australians just don't have the time to waste. That said, we have to start somewhere, and I don't think "just talking to our neighbours" will give us either a voice in our democracy or the human rights we are being denied.
ACFP is just a small research company assembling the tools Australians need to be able to establish the democracy they want. So we haven't been able to establish "large-scale conferences" yet; nor has that been part of our work program. The program at the moment is focusing on trialing the Integrated Planning system and figuring out the constitutional changes we will need to ensure people can become involved in a way that is time efficient for them. I always thought this would take at least three federal election cycles to catch on. It's frustrating I know, but patience and persistence is the only option.
As I say in a later part of the essay, this is a big national project, the like of which has never been attempted before and it will be made harder by the times in which we are attempting it. But the fact that we can even contemplate doing it and have the means to set up the IP&R framework is itself progress. The best way to make use of the internet to connect to other Australians is for people like you to spread the word wherever you can. I think there's a pretty good chance that it will catch on. So I suppose that's what I'd suggest in answer to your question about how we can prove politicians wrong.
Best wishes, Bronwyn