Australia 2020 Summit and Youth Summit

[brendan]

http://andrewleigh.com/?p=1868
http://andrewnorton.info/blog/2008/03/31/changing-minds/

I have to agree with Sinclair's comment "That list shows what is so fundamentally wrong with Canberra and Canberrans - 16 dumb ideas that apparently have 90% support from the participants."

[brendan]

my thoughts on the youth summit:

Firstly, I thought the 2020 Youth Summit was an astute political move by
the Rudd Government to give the impression that they actually listen, and
hence to sure up votes of the next generation of people.

Secondly, there is no doubt that the kind of people I met at the 2020
Youth Summit were some of the most, ambitious, passionate, and
well-intentioned people one would ever meet. Indeed, that is probably why
they were selected in the first place. However, good intentions are not
enough. Arguably, the stolen generation happened with good intentions -
yet we all know the tragic outcomes of that. Many of the policies proposed
were by all means well-intentioned; however, in my view, they are
misguided and bound to do more harm than good.  In the words of Henry
David Thoreau, "If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my
house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my
life."

Thirdly, there seemed to be a prevailing “free lunch” mentality; that you
could get something for nothing. Many of the proposals were of the form:
“We want X” where X is some seemingly desirable good or service. However,
little was mentioned of who is going to end up paying for X, and who is
going to end up having to provide X. Whether consciously done or not, the
fact that a government cannot simply give without also taking, seemed to
be ignored in discussions.

[Eriny]

I like the idea of the 2020 summit, but I've been to some forums of a similar nature (but on a state/local scale) and I can't imagine that this is any different to those. Just getting a whole bunch of people together to talk about interesting ideas, without a great deal actually happening.

[bubble sunglasses]

my thoughts on the youth summit:

Firstly, I thought the 2020 Youth Summit was an astute political move by
the Rudd Government to give the impression that they actually listen, and
hence to sure up votes of the next generation of people.

Secondly, there is no doubt that the kind of people I met at the 2020
Youth Summit were some of the most, ambitious, passionate, and
well-intentioned people one would ever meet. Indeed, that is probably why
they were selected in the first place. However, good intentions are not
enough. Arguably, the stolen generation happened with good intentions -
yet we all know the tragic outcomes of that. Many of the policies proposed
were by all means well-intentioned; however, in my view, they are
misguided and bound to do more harm than good.  In the words of Henry
David Thoreau, "If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my
house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my
life."

Thirdly, there seemed to be a prevailing “free lunch” mentality; that you
could get something for nothing. Many of the proposals were of the form:
“We want X” where X is some seemingly desirable good or service. However,
little was mentioned of who is going to end up paying for X, and who is
going to end up having to provide X. Whether consciously done or not, the
fact that a government cannot simply give without also taking, seemed to
be ignored in discussions.

   
   Which stream were you in?

[brendan]

economics/productivity/infrastructure

[Rietie]

I thought it was a great idea. This is true democracy in the works people!

And the summit got a lot more press coverage than Brendan Nelson's "listening tour". hehe

[jess3254]

I was impressed with the 2020 summit, however what disappointed me was that it didn’t have a great number of ‘grass root’ participants. The summit’s attendees consisted primarily of academics and high-powered individuals, and failed to include people such as nurses (eg. Community nurses), social workers, childcare workers, disability workers, teachers etc, who do the nitty gritty work within our community. They have invaluable experience that should not be undermined.

While the academics are important, the input of people working within these environments is crucial. A handful of community workers surely can provide invaluable information and ideas on what’s working, what requires improvement and what the best direction is to take, as they have actually experienced it first hand.

[Collin Li]

I am concerned that many of the participants of the summit felt they owed a great debt to others, but wished to repay that debt with other people's money.

[brendan]

lol i know that quote coblin =p

[costargh]

Hmmm I did read that their was a trend by groups other than the Economy group to tax people so their projects or ideas could become reality while the Economy group was the stark contrast with their view of reducing taxation.

[Rietie]

I don't care what you guys say *blocking ears and putting hand over eyes* - it was awesome.
C'mon a republic

[costargh]

Just wondering what some of the academics on this forum think about PPP's.
Anyone?

[Collin Li]

Just wondering what some of the academics on this forum think about PPP's.
Anyone?

PPP's? I'm not aware of any academics on this forum either.

[brendan]

i think purchasing power parity is useful?

[Eriny]

C'mon a republic

Agreed. I saw Alexander Downer go on and on about the virtues of conservatism and about how great being a monarchist is on the news and it wasn't particularly compelling. I can understand how a person could be a monarchist just because they don't mind the current system, but I really don't understand how anyone could be a passionate monarchist.