As John discovered recently, even former prime ministers buy in. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Well-heeled think tank vows to be ideology free, "New International Think Tank for Victoria", "Inaugural Director/CEO of the Grattan Institute Appointed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grattan_Institute&oldid=1127957615, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2019, Articles needing additional references from July 2022, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 December 2022, at 16:27. Australia cant run an uncapped temporary migration program with a capped permanent program and offer all temporary migrants a road to permanent residency. He compares the last decade or so his period of gridlock with the halcyon reform days of the 1980s and 1990s. But is she a major donor to the IPA? Oquist agrees, telling Fairfax Media that think tanks can connect ideas to politics in a way that universities often dont. Grattan (nothing to do with Michelle, apparently) is the brainchild of ex-Victorian public service scion Terry Moran. His peremptory putdown of the source with the clear implication that its assessment was politically confected - had the same effect. His ease in delegitimising a public interest question, on the basis of who may have informed it, speaks to the intense adversarialism of Australias policy space, where legitimate arguments and even facts become secondary to the person or organisation proposing them. The deregulation of the financial sector was similarly an inevitable corollary. The pension and no fault divorce were incredibly significant reforms. It was a skilful mix of policy, politics, and presentation. However, change wont be easy. Hotair.com. Currently, everyone pays the same . Grattan Institute - Facebook I applauded the way Ben Jensen shifted a superficial schools debate toward evidence-based action, while Jane-Frances Kelly anticipated issues about cities now much debated. Anything Goes: Think tanks on the left - a preliminary survey - Blogger Think tanks: when too much policy analysis is barely enough. The report which detailed what a universal dental scheme would look like, how much it would cost, and the pathway to get there, was a catalyst for change, Mr Daley told The New Daily. Most Liberal And Conservative Colleges In The U.S When it comes to transport projects, its hard tofind, Victoria signals end of coal by announcing a new 95% renewable target. Meanwhile it has been an honour to be part of this journey. Painstaking. Danielle Wood - Chief Executive Officer - Grattan Institute | LinkedIn The Grattan Institute's Towards Net Zero report, released on Monday, has suggested the Australian government would need to pull many other policy levers to reach net zero, including vehicle . Catalyst stands out because it is actually quite narrowly focussed on the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. Through the course of 2005 this idea was fleshed out by several people in the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, including discussions with a number of Australias corporate leaders. Former chief executive of the Grattan Institute and soon-to-be private sector consultant, John Daley, thinks he knows a thing or two about reform. As Professor Robert Gordon has noted, there simply havent been many economy-wide technology shifts in recent times that have increased productivity growth. "The Chifley Research Centre is the Labor Partys official think tank, committed to the advancement of public policy debate and progressive thinking in Australia. To connect a sign in method the email must match the one on your Crikey account. But there are solutions. There are many economic theories that constitute the field of heterodox economics. Its a charge Roskam doesnt shrink from, proudly noting his organisations support for selling the national broadcaster and other electorally difficult ideas such as abolishing the minimum wage to promote jobs growth and shifting Australias embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. Labor and the Coalition are promising $19 billion between them for transport projects way down on the $163 billion promised in 2018 but theyre as scornful of proper assessment processes as ever. There would be events across the country to discuss reports and annual provocations, such as the Prime Ministers Summer Reading List and an annual gathering of policy experts. And slagging off at other organisations such as the Institute of Public Affairs does nothing to strengthen the argument. How big money influenced the 2019 federal election - and what we can do Trump has consistently vilified the national media. Could the University of Melbourne and I provide a home for a think tank while accepting its independence? It took a brave person to apply. The Tasmanian Liberal Party (who won the election) declared more than A$400,000 from pro-gambling groups in the lead-up to the state election - equal to nearly 90% of the party's declared. The argument did not reject the validity of attempting to deliver reform, just that the reform chosen under the label "Building Australia's Future Workforce" did not reflect the kind of policy development that previous Labor Government's showed. dental care for all Australians, while increasing investment into mental health NPR also rarely explains why listeners should . Most think tanksare funded by a combination of memberships, additional donations and contract work on behalf of clients. There's also Per Capita, the Australian Fabian Society, the Lowy Institute, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia. Repairing the budget and paying down government debt should also be counted as major reforms. The UCLA Higher Education Research Institute's 2016 Freshman Survey found that roughly 35% of first-year college students identify as liberal or left-leaning, while 22% identify as conservative or right . High-viz , narrow vision: the budget overlooks the hardest hit in Institute of Public Affairs head John Roskam. Neither are any of the other states or territories, apart from the ACT. All Rights Reserved. You might disagree with half of it, but youll enjoy reading all of it. Its easy to spot the similarities in how this first Labor budget and its Coalition predecessors approached transport projects. Moran was picked to head the Prime Minister's department in February and the Institute got the green light shortly afterwards. You know, that's what our super says about you when we put you on the screen Sky News, The Contrarians, 12th April, 2013. Morrison government climate plan will fail if solely reliant on Yet all too often, ABC presenters seem to share the attitude expressed by Sally Warhaft on Melbourne's 774, when a caller claimed that the IPA gets funding from Big Tobacco. Destroying trust in the media, science, and government has - Brookings Copyright 2023 The New Daily. Its a good example of why being wary of the koala explanation that something special has happened in Australia is well-advised. The Climate Institute, which did extensive research and advocacy for carbon reduction via multiple programs, folded a year ago, rolling its assets and intellectual property into the Australia Institute. create jobs. The Grattan Institute invariably endorses higher taxes, more government spending, more regulation and bans as their preferred policy positions. Surging energy prices are really going to hurt. Finding a director should be more straight-forward. Three think tanks ranging from the centre to the left of the spectrum - the Grattan Institute , Per Capita , and the Centre for Policy Development - do disclose their major donors. The Grattan Institute has released a report revealing a shocking level of politicisation in government appointments to public boards, tribunals, advisory councils and agencies. A report by the Grattan Institute, which has been presented to the federal government's Medicare taskforce, calls for a wholesale overhaul of Medicare and shift away from its current, fee-for . It is easier to attack an author than to deal with a report. The Andrews government in Victoria included. Undoubtedly, her biggest contribution is Hot Air. Australians, particularly for low income families. I admired watching Tony Woods hold the line on the reality of energy choices, delivering his report Keeping the Lights On two days before a major power outage in South Australia. And yes, there have been some significant changes since then, such as larger ministerial offices, department heads on fixed terms, more contracting out to consulting firms, weaker ministerial accountability and the like. Which brings us back to Morrisons post-budget slapdown of the Australia Institute. HenceI am serious about the question of the need for a "seminal text" (noting that Marx is definitely not it) that is a subject for another longer piece of writing. Grattan Institute aspires to contribute to public policy in Australia as a liberal democracy in a globalised economy. "When mateship prevails over merit, we all suffer," said Grattan Institute chief executive Danielle Wood, the report's lead author. Ben Oquist hovers at a joint Clive Palmer-John Hewson press conference in 2014. To create an overall bias and. It does not receive continued financial support from any state or federal government and rejects commissioned work, which according to its website, is to enable it to pursue independent research. Find out more Read our research before it hits the headlines. Its main focus has to be health equity for disadvantaged groups. In Australias bulk-billing deserts, its incredibly difficult to find a doctor who will bulk bill. In other words, our living standards were sliding down a slippery pole and something had to be done. What do they stand for? GASP (Grattan After School Program) is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization serving San Francisco United School District Grattan Elementary students. What can the government actuallydo? Proposals for new projects are always contested, an opportunity to dream large about the country we want to see. Reforming it can save the federal budget $4 billion a year. Nicholls Society [right] Institute of Public Affairs (Australia . The Grattan Institute: Centre for Ruddist Thinking. But when it was launched two years ago, The Australian reported that it was the brainchild of Australian Workers' Union boss Paul Howes, who will sit on the board of the institute, said yesterday it would assist the labour movement's return to being "a movement of ideas". GASP believes after-school is an extension of the school day and that learning does not end when teh academic day is over. In 2017-18, Grattan a registered charity was cited more than 25,000 times by the media, its annual report showed, meaning it received 500 mentions in an average week. Urban congestion funding for Coalition and marginal seats far outstrips The reason for this is that the release of this information into the public domain would invite those who are determined to follow the money to mount politically motivated ad hominem attacks, Dr Sammut wrote. McKell doesn't even list its board members on its website. Grattan Institute | LinkedIn live, learn and work. The IPAs John Roskam believes this has had the effect of energising and refreshing democracy. The think tanks shaping Australia: The Grattan Institute. The Grattan Institute recently revealed just how many Australians were skipping the dentist and why. Please try again. Headquartered in downtown Riverside, California, it is the primary newspaper for Riverside County, with a heavy penetration into neighboring San Bernardino County. The Albanese government has promised a centre for disease control. They ensure Grattan communicates complex policy in ways that are easy and pleasurable to grasp. The rest have either fairly vague notions of encouraging involvement in policy processes or otherwise to promote "progressive" thinking. On the right, theres a clutch of influential bodies including Melbournes 75-year-old Institute of Public Affairs the oldest free-market think tank in the world - the Sydney Institute, the HR Nicholls Society and the Centre for Independent Studies, which is Sydney-based. Think tanks may be obscure to many voters, but inside Parliament House they occupy an increasingly busy, increasingly robust civil debating space. Its no use producing a study of the impact of bracket creep on taxation the week after those matters are decided in Canberra.. This was a new institution, with no track record. Our output is thoroughly contemporary and relevant: by dint simply of who we are, it is organically connected to the history of the left. Providing quality and affordable health and One of the offices visited by Oquist was Morrisons. Clive Palmer at his Parliament House press conference with former US vice-president Al Gore in June 2014.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen. For Ben Oquist, the Australia Institute's chief executive officer who manages some 20 employees and an annual budget of around $3 million, such aspersions are not exactly a badge of honour, but he is philosophical. Ms Rinehart prefers the idea of personal income tax breaks and creating special economic zones. 11. Study shows bias of left and right extends to perceptions of verifiable fact. Once disparagingly described as Kevin Rudds $50 million superthink tank, the Grattan Institute has become one of Australias most often-quoted sources of research. What to Think about Think Tanks? : NPR Public Editor : NPR Its director, Gerard Henderson, sent a long response (updated to include Media Watch's reply) to our questions , but didn't actually answer them. The bias score is determined by the article's degree of advocacy for a left-to-right political position, topic selection and omission, and use of language. Creating and maintaining work environments Grattan Institute is an Australian public policy think tank, established in 2008. New push to stamp out MPs' 'jobs for mates' Four of them - the McKell Institute , The Australia Institute , the Centre for Independent Studies , and the IPA (two on the left of spectrum, two on the right) told us they don't generally disclose their donors or supporters. There are always interests at stake, strong and contrary views from people who do not welcome Grattan joining the discussion. students in its 2019budget. The immediate observation one makes is that this constitutes quite a high number of separate think tanks - especially since none of them individually achieves the cut-through of the IPA, the Sydney Institute or even the Centre for Independent Studies. An analysis of the welfare system needs to recognise these institutional distortions. Michelle Malkin (more on her in a minute) has made several major contributions to the conservative movement. A lesser-known initiative in his well-received budget was an Australia Institute idea to extend the pension loans scheme to eligible full and part-time pensioners. Yes. Data analysts and Program Directors work closely with the Grattan communications team. Its campaign to save several carbon abatement bodies after the Abbott government scrapped Labors carbon tax was a case in point. We needed someone passionate about public policy but not identified with any political party or ideology. Just before the 2007 election, following a path already beaten by Terry, Steve Bracks and David Kemp, I called on federal Treasurer Peter Costello to seek Commonwealth support. As CEO John chose an excellent Grattan team, and steered a skilful middle course between ideologies, parties, expectations and occasional explosions. Billions of dollars in super tax breaks simply end up boosting the inheritances of well-off children. Heres how to improveit, Treasurer Chalmers has a $70 billion a year budget hole: weve found 13 ways to fillit, Greens will back Labors safeguard mechanism without a ban on new coal and gas. Grattan Institute also makes provision for experts in other fields to work under its umbrella. Is Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest? Former chief executive of the Grattan Institute and soon-to-be private sector consultant, John Daley, thinks he knows a thing or two about reform. Ultimately, we believe in politics because we believe in democracy its how we make collective decisions without shooting each other.. Enter your email address and Crikey will send a Verification Code. The cost of defending the dollar would have been too great. Instead, we have a hard cap on emissions and that should make many fossil fuel projects unviable. Grattan recently released its first Program Impact Report, highlighting the policy areas it had contributed to in 2018. Home - Grattan Institute The Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report is light on detail but lays out clear directions and includes big reforms. Theres an election on the way, he said. and conditions for workers, particularly those in low paid jobs. To a large extent this vagueness then permeates a lot of the work - with lots and lots of stuff on environmental and rights issues, andless on economic issues. the needs of a growing population. As a young postdoctoral fellow, I worked for some months in the Brookings Institution at 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington. It takes persistence and hard work before evidence can find a new audience. Australia's best political analysis - straight to your inbox, The Spectator Australia's Morning Double Shot delivers a hearty breakfast of news and views straight to your inbox, Weekly round up of the best Flat White blogs - delivered straight to your inbox, The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP, Bowen climbs to the top of the incompetence ladder. Even so, there are inevitable controversies and criticism. Australia's leading public policy think tank. But for a time, through the rise and fall of the carbon pollution reduction scheme and subsequent carbon price, its principals, John Connor and Erwin Jackson, were more-or-less permanent fixtures in the halls of power. <br><br>Danielle previously worked at the ACCC . The dictionary definition talks about changes and improvements to a law, social system or institution that make people better off. Never far from the news, the IPA was front and centre again in the last week after the Young Liberals convinced the senior partys annual federal executive meeting to support the privatisation of the ABC. New report calls for an overhaul of 'broken' Medicare system It seems to me that it really isn't possible to mount a review of welfare policy until there is a wider socio-economic program to underpin it. But what can the government actually do to ease the pain? Coal plants are closing faster than expected. Governments can keep the Hot Air follows the principals of many conservative websites. We are very grateful for their support and we respect their privacy, but they are free to identify themselves if they choose. For it is an institution we serve. All rights reserved. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. James Paterson, Director Communications, IPA, 10th May, 2013. Many hands were pressed into the effort. The Higher Education Program was established with funding from the Myer Foundation. Big money was spent on the 2022 election - but the party with the For those of us leaving the board, it is hard not to be a little rueful. An irrepressible innovator, Terry would go on to work with Premier Bracks on creation of the Wheeler Centre, Victorian Opera and the Melbourne Recital Centre. Among its many missives on finance, infrastructure and health, Grattan CEO John Daley pointed to Bill Shortens election commitment to fix Australias dental health system as an illustration of the bodys positive influence. She said to Tim Wilson Sally Warhaft: Well you're not going to tell us who funds you and so it's a waste of precious time. It has occurred in countries in which reforms are easy to implement for example, the UK and New Zealand. Random thoughts (when I get around to it) on politics and public discourse by David Havyatt. The Institute of Public Affairs is funded by the voluntary contributions of our 3256 members and supporters. [citation needed], In April 2008, Commonwealth and Victorian Governments announced matching funding, along with support in kind from the University of Melbourne. John Roskam disagreed. Victorias new renewable plan is welcome - but it relies on building unsexy and challenging new transmission lines across the state. Grattan releases up to 16 reports a year, each downloaded on average 3,100 times, and distributed widely across policy networks. Register to write, Many teachers find planning with colleagues a waste of time. "A strong and well-resourced integrity commission is the last line of defence against . Eventually a small operation was set up in my office at the University of Melbourne to begin the practical work of finding a location, recruiting staff, and building the required administrative systems. At the end of 2005 the Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks, met with the Federal Treasurer Peter Costello to define the theme for the think tank: Australia as a liberal democracy in a globalised economy.