Progressive Ideas Worth Sharing

Sydney, 30 September 2015

The ACT Fabians are joined by Senator Katy Gallagher, former Chief Minister of the ACT to discuss the processes, institutions, tips and tricks that make for good government.

Fabian Seminar, Housing Affordability in Crisis.  [Ben Spies-Butcher, Mark Bonanno]

NSW Fabians, Sydney, 29 July 2015

 

The Global Financial Crisis was supposed to herald the end of neoliberalism yet social democracy seems to have entered a crisis deeper than that of the 1970s and 80s. Parties and coalitions of the centre-left have struggled against a confident laissez-faire right and resurgent nationalism. A crisis of financial capital became a crisis of public finance, leading to austerity and attacks on the remnants of the social democratic consensus. Many have claimed that social democracy is facing a crisis of irrelevance or extinction, its standing eroded by individualism and globalisation.But is there actually a crisis of social democracy? The electoral decline of historic centre-left parties is contrasted by many of the issues championed by social democrats such as inequality, unemployment and insecurity being at the forefront of public debate, and the other rising parties on the left and populist right are campaigning on what some see as a traditional social democratic agenda. Rather than a crisis of social democracy, is it really a crisis of the traditional political establishment?Join us and a great panel of speakers as we discuss the current state of social democracy, whether there is a crisis and what the future holds.Mark Bahnisch, sociologist and author of “Queensland: Everything you ever wanted to know, but were afraid to ask”Eva Cox, academic and social commentatorDavid Hetherington, Executive Director, Per Capita

Sydney, 26 June 2015

 

The Australian Frontier Wars were fought from 1788 to the 1920s between Indigenous Australians and an invading coalition of white settlers, militia, police, and colonial soldiers. It has been estimated that in total the conflict claimed 20,000 to 30,000 Aboriginal lives and the lives of between 2,000 and 2,500 Europeans. This was undoubtedly a defining conflict in the history of this country.However, despite the undeniable significance of the Frontier wars to our shared history, there is currently no mention of them at all in the National War Memorial in Canberra and on going silence in mainstream Australian society in general.The NSW Fabians are proud to be joined for this event by Professor Henry Reynolds, one of Australia's most respected historians who will speak on this important but sadly too often overlooked chapter of our history and discuss how we might move forward to ensure proper acknowledgement and a more honest understanding of our past.

Our March Forum is very timely, following on the release on 25 February of the final report of Patrick McClure's review into Australia's welfare system. The report has received a cautious, sometimes sceptical reception from the disability community.

With this forum, we hope to ensure that the debate has only begun and that equality continues to be the watchword for all future policy makers.

Where: Melbourne City Conference Centre, Corner Swanston & Lt Lonsdale Streets

When: 6.00pm - 7.30pm, Tuesday, 10th March 2015

Hear informed perspectives from the Victorian government and disability sector.

•Gabrielle Williams MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Disabilities

•Tony Clark, disabilities campaigner and candidate for Ringwood at the Victorian State election

•Jen Hargrave from 'Women with Disabilities Victoria'. She is Policy Officer at WDV and is responsible for writing submissions to the current Senate enquiry, Vic Royal Commission into Family Violence, and a Vic Ombudsman enquiry amongst other things.

Ever since Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave her famous misogyny speech in 2012 in reaction to the sexist smears of the Opposition, the Australian feminism movement appears to be undergoing a resurgence.

With the internet and social media emerging as an important space for feminist activism, and an increasing diversity of feminist voices in the Australian public sphere, is Australia finally experiencing a ‘fourth wave’ of feminism?

These questions and many more will the addressed by our panel of activists, which includes:

•Renee Carr, Executive Director and founding Board Member of Fair Agenda;

•Van Badham, writer, social commentator and columnist for Guardian Australia;

•Celeste Liddle, National Indigenous Organiser, NTEU.

•Tanja Kovac, Convenor of Emily’s List, Australia.

The event will be moderated by Australian Young Fabians Director Cassandra Devine.

Having just released his new book 'The Good Fight', The ACT Fabians was lucky enough to host a conversation with the Hon Wayne Swan MP and Bernard Keane of Crikey to reflect on Wayne's story and the role of a Labor government into the future.