Policy Forum Pod

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced Australia will develop a new Foreign Policy White Paper, its first since 2003. What has changed for Australian foreign affairs over the last 13 years, and what foreign policy decisions should the new White Paper prioritise over the next decade? In the new Policy Forum Pod, Professor Michael Wesley joins Policy Forum Editor Martyn Pearce to discuss the foreign policy environment shaping Australia’s new White Paper. Professor Michael Wesley is Director of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at The Australian National University. He has published extensively and has authored several books on foreign policy, including The Howard Paradox: Australian Diplomacy in Asia. He won the 2011 John Button Prize for Best Writing in Australian Politics for his book, There Goes the Neighbourhood: Australia and the Rise of Asia. If you’d like to learn more about some of the issues raised in this podcast, head along to the Australia 360 Conference held by the ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. This free conference will be held all day in Canberra this coming Monday 29 August. Find out more about it here: http://bellschool.anu.edu.au/news-events/events/4369/australia-360-how-australia-travelling-todays-world Image by Nicolas Raymond on Flickr: http://freestock.ca/flags_maps_g80-australia_grunge_flag_p1025.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three experts discuss the concerns around the Australian Census, how the data is used by researchers, and why the census website went offline on its big night. At 7.30pm, on the night of 9 August, as the government was urging people to login and complete the census online, the website specifically designed to collect data directly from Australia’s 24 million strong population, was taken offline following a series of what is being called denial of service incidents. These incidents, caused by parties as yet unknown, involved the routing of huge volumes of data through servers in the US to essentially crash the website. The incident has become a source of embarrassment for the agency responsible for delivering the census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and by extension the Australian Government. It has generated widespread concern, not to mention inconvenience, for pretty much the entire Australian population, and raises serious questions about trust, privacy and the cyber security of government agencies. But even before the night of 9 August this year’s census was in trouble. Changes to the information collected, as well as the length of time the information would be retained and how the information would be used, had led to significant concerns. On Twitter, users highlighted and discussed these under the hashtag #censusfail. Discussing what went wrong, why, and what comes next are: Dr Liz Allen - a demographer at The Australian National University. Dr Cassandra Cross - Senior Lecturer at the School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology Michelle Price - cybersecurity advisor at the ANU National Security College. Read Michelle Price's piece on this issue at http://www.policyforum.net/census2016s-slim-silver-lining/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a new Policy Forum Pod two leading experts shed some light on the disturbing human rights violations being committed on Phnom Penh’s homeless people in contemporary Cambodia. Cambodia is a country whose recent past was plagued by extreme violence: large-scale bombing, civil war, invasion and genocide, acts that in total killed more than two million people over two decades. But it’s also a country whose present appears to be plunging back into the human misery of its haunted past, with not only state-sanctioned, but state-perpetrated violence being carried out against some of its most vulnerable citizens. It’s violence that is being largely overlooked by the international community. It is a situation in which Phnom Penh’s homeless people are systematically being rounded up by police, their possessions arbitrarily destroyed, and they themselves are being deported to what are effectively concentration camps outside the capital where they are subjected to appalling conditions. This is part of a broader pattern of human rights violations, from curbs on free speech and the media, to restrictions on elected political opponents, that seriously threaten the country’s prospects for free and fair democratic elections in 2018 and, longer term, for a peaceful, democratic future. Discussing the country’s traumatic past and troubling present are: Professor the Honourable Gareth Evans AC QC. Professor Evans is Chancellor of the Australian National University, and has been recognised at both the national and international level for his extraordinary service and contribution to international relations, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, to global policy, conflict prevention and resolution, and to arms control and disarmament. As one of Australia's longest serving Foreign Ministers, Professor Evans was the architect of the United Nations’ intervention in Cambodia and the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement to put an end to the mass murders and other human rights atrocities of the 1970s and 80s. He has continued to monitor developments over the years and remains an influential and respected voice on Cambodia today. Dr Simon Springer is an Associate Professor at Canada’s Victoria University, has spent the last 15 years doing research in Cambodia looking at patterns of political and structural violence that have arisen as the country has transitioned towards a free market economy and struggled with consolidating its democracy. His research has included looking at the plight of Phnom Penh’s homeless and interviewing hundreds of people on the ground. He has published a number of books in that time and has worked to draw international attention to the grievous situation unfolding. Dr Springer and Professor Evans are in conversation with Policy Forum’s Fiona Benson. You can read Simon Springer's Policy Forum piece on Cambodia's homeless at http://www.policyforum.net/apocalypse-apocalypse-now/ The pod also takes a look at listener feedback on our last two podcasts on the South China Sea ruling, and the idea of a universal basic income. The podcast is presented by Martyn Pearce, Editor at http://www.policyforum.net/ . Find him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/theshepherdsdog Photo by Transformer18 on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/71267357@N06/15513131230/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would you do if your income were taken care of? In this Policy Forum Pod, four leading experts discuss the idea of a basic income - how it works, what it could do, and what it could mean for the future of the welfare state. In conversation with Policy Forum Editor Martyn Pearce are Professor Guy Standing, Dr Charles Murray, Professor Peter Whiteford, and Professor Olli Kangas.Guy Standing is an economist at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He is the author of a number of well-known books including 'The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class'. He is also co-founder and current President of the Basic Income Earth Network - an organisation with thousands of members around the world (http://www.basicincome.org/).Charles Murray is the WH Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC. Dr Murray is one of the world's leading social policy researchers and the author of a number of best-selling books, including The Bell Curve, which controversially looked at the role of IQ in shaping America's class structure.Peter Whiteford is the Director of the Social Policy Institute at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy and a leading figure in the structure, design, and cost of welfare, particularly in Australia.Olli Kangas is leading the research group planning a major basic income experiment in Finland. You can read more about that here: http://www.basicincome.org/news/2015/12/finland-basic-income-experiment-what-we-know/This episode was produced and presented by Martyn Pearce. Peter Whiteford was the Executive Producer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration has ruled in favour of the Philippines in its dispute with China over the South China Sea. It's a historic ruling and one that will be a game-changer in one of the region's flashpoints. In this Policy Forum Pod extra, two experts discuss the ruling, what it means for China and the region, and what comes next for the Philippines. In conversation with Policy Forum Editor Martyn Pearce are: - Professor Don Rothwell, an international law expert from the Australian National University College of Law - Dr John Blaxland, a Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the ANU Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special Australian Policy Pod, experts from Crawford School of Public Policy discuss the outcome of the Australian Federal Election on Saturday 2 July. The panelists look at the policy highs and lows of the long campaign, which policies resonated with voters, and what the next few years holds in store for whoever eventually makes up the next government. The panellists are: Professor Quentin Grafton - professor of economics at Crawford School of Public Policy and Editor-in-Chief of www.policyforum.net Sue Regan - A policy analyst at Crawford School and a former political advisor to the UK Blair government Bob Cotton - Visiting fellow at Crawford School and a former diplomat. The podcast is presented by Martyn Pearce, Editor of Policy Forum. Photo by Lauri Väin on Flickr: http://bit.ly/29aCrNr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the Asia-Pacific region doing enough to tackle gender inequality? And how can public policy help to address women's rights and ensure greater opportunities in the workforce? In this Policy Forum Pod, Kelly Hayward talks to two experts about the challenges facing women in Asia, and the obstacles preventing gender equality throughout the region. Helping to unpack these issues are: * Associate Professor Susan Harris-Rimmer, Griffith Law School, Brisbane, Australia; * Professor Jacqui True, Monash University, Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 23 June Britain heads to the polls in a referendum that will decide whether or not the country stays in the EU - the so-called 'Brexit' vote. In this Policy Forum Pod, three experts give a distinctly Asia-Pacific take on the issues, looking at how it came about, what the consequences might be whichever way the vote goes, and what it will mean for the Asia-Pacific region. The interviewees are: Professor Jürgen Bröhmer - Professor of Law and Dean of the Law School at Murdoch University, Western Australia Professor Clem Macintyre - Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Adelaide. Professor Lawrence Pratchett - Dean of the Faculty of Government and Law at the University of Canberra. This episode is produced and presented by Policy Forum.net Editor, Martyn Pearce. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Paris climate agreement was a landmark agreement bringing together 175 countries. But can governments around the world turn a diplomatic victory into an economic and environmental win? And what's the future of the agreement under a new US President? In conversation with Fiona Benson are two leading experts on the Paris agreement, Professor Ottmar Edenhofer and Associate Professor Frank Jotzo. Ottmar Edenhofer is Deputy Director and Chief Economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Professor of the Economics of Climate Change of the Technical University Berlin. He is also Director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) as well as adviser to the World Bank regarding issues of economic growth and climate protection. From 2008 to 2015 he served as Co-Chair of WGIII of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Frank Jotzo is Associate Professor at and Deputy Director of ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, Director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, and an ANU Public Policy Fellow. Frank Jotzo is a Lead Author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report, and is Associate Editor of the journals Climate Policy and Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. He has been involved in a number of policy research and advisory exercises, including as senior advisor to Australia’s Garnaut Climate Change Review, advisor to Indonesia‘s Minister of Finance and the World Bank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Health policy is at the core of the 2016 Federal Election, regularly ranked as the issue most important to voters. In this event, ANU health policy experts discuss where the parties stand and what's missing from the debate. The panel for this week was Professor Sharon Friel, Director, RegNet, ANU, Professor Art Sedrakyan, Department of Health Services Research and Policy, Research School of Population Health, ANU and Professor Adrian Kay, Director of National Professional Development, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. The event was moderated by Cath McGrath, Chief Political Correspondent for SBS TV. The Vote: 2016 Federal Election Series presented in partnership with the ANU Policy Forum is an opportunity to engage with ANU public policy experts during the 2016 Federal Election. Join the ANU community at a weekly panel in the Molonglo Theatre at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy as experts discuss a different public policy issue every week until the election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.