Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy

Strongly agree. It is the whole of parliament's job, 'opposition' benchers, cross benchers and back benchers to hold the executive to account and on track for Australia's benefit.

And it is doing the localised democracy, then providing services that people have decided they want, (subsidaritily!), that makes 'democracy' living, and relevant, and people can see that, and join in.

How do we nourish
the seeds of the not yet in
the no longer ...?

I 'grok' your thoughts on populist's faustian bargain, yet the how do we use this system to help grow the new to which we can swap our consent is one of the necessary questions?

Democracy Sausage: Realignment of Australian Politics Social and political data scientist, Shaun Ratcliff joins Democracy Sausage to discuss new polling on the realignment of the Australian political landscape.

I spoke to Marija Taflaga and @markgkenny.bsky.social on ANU's Democracy Sausage podcast about our polling and what it means for Australian politics

Listen here:

reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/...

“While using the traditional ‘left-right’ lens makes some sense for some policy issues, for most of the big issues paralysing our current federal parliament it is the left-right frame that is causing much of the confusion and paralysis.” - Richard Denniss

Read more: https://theaus.in/4axwXhF

Recent ANU research identified just 20 organisations that dominate climate policy activity in Australia, and The Australia Institute was one of this small core group of influential voices.

Learn more: https://theaus.in/4ra6oVC

Do you want to help promote the What do we want our MPs to do in 2026 poll and Community Assembly?
Share this video.
#Canberra #democracy #auspol
canberra-alliance.org.au/wp-content/u...

Anti-corruption boss given 'please explain' by government over Defence ties Attorney-General Michelle Rowland asked Paul Brereton to explain why his ongoing ties to Defence had not been "adequately" disclosed in a letter sent last year.

Public faith in anti-corruption institutions is fragile and hard won. Commissioner Brereton’s handling of his Defence connections, and his inability to clearly account for them over time, has weakened confidence in the NACC.

He should consider stepping aside to rebuild public trust in the NACC.

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The ‘that was unexpectedly good fun’ 2nd part of our exploration of AI in transforming democracy videos and the transcript are available on our Activity page in the CAPaD Education Meeting and Zoom Event tab.
canberra-alliance.org.au/activity/

Albanese Government dragged out the 30-day freedom of information process for another 120 days to disguise how flimsy their arguments are.

Now we have the docs, there's nothing in them to support the Govt's push to limit freedom of information rights.

live.thepoint.com.au/2026/02/the-...

But that is the nature of capitalism. When accumulating wealth is your only goal, you don't care about preserving the social fabric or governance systems that care for people and planet. Business leaders don't need to be condemned. They need to be prosecuted. Unlikley tho :(.
#democracy

“This month’s parliamentary sitting and its fallout prove Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a master of the politics of constraint, drawing on lessons that go back to Homer’s The Odyssey.” - Bill Browne

Read Bill Browne’s full piece on The Point: https://theaus.in/45E7u3s

In prep for Sunday's AI Event (register on our Events page), have a look at this:
www.facebook.com/groups/14873...

MLK Jr. said America suffers not just from "the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."

Remember this.

The Agree / disagree comparisons are as interesting as the Albanese / Ley comparisons.
Especially around Decisive and In touch with voters.

The What do we want the government to do in 2026? poll results show a strange distribution. 4 diverse groups.
Have a look, vote, submit your own proposals (if not covered already) and share so you can influence the ouputs.
See canberra-alliance.org.au/activity/

"Many Liberals appear cynically confident the public has been sufficiently checked out over Christmas to not notice the hypocrisy of the situation.

But there is one person who will not so easily forget." (i.e., Anthony Albanese.)

Politicising Bondi backfires for Liberals who got what they asked for Federal Liberals are discovering the price of having been so brazen in their politicisation of the Bondi terror attack and many appear to have buyers' remorse.

Good argument from Clare Armstrong:

"Whether or not the Coalition's concerns are legitimate, almost all are the result of their decision to push Labor to move quickly."

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

South Australian electoral experiment deserves much closer scrutiny With the South Australian House of Assembly considering dramatic changes to electoral law this week, The Australia Institute warns the process has been rushed and the legislation is compromised and un...

Read more about the changes to South Australia's political donation laws ⤵️
australiainstitute.org.au/post/south-a...

Almost as low as it gets!

#OtD 14 Jan 1921 Murray Bookchin, theoretician of social ecology and libertarian municipalism, was born. His ideas have come to prominence more recently as they have been embraced by Kurdish communities in Rojava, Syria. Learn about his life and ideas: stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8569...

WHAT do you want GOVERNMENT to do for us in 2026?

1. Take our poll
2. Vote on others' ideas
3. Share the poll widely: more people, stronger message.

Details & links: canberra-alliance.org.au/activity/

Continuing the AI for democracy story.
Interactive session.
Sunday 1 February. 1400 - 1530.
Irish club, Parkinsons St Weston.
More info and registration:
canberra-alliance.org.au/event/using-...

Restoring Electoral Fairness Bill Holding the parliamentary inquiry into the Restoring Electoral Fairness Bill over the holiday break will limit the ability of the committee to investigate

Queensland's ban on political donations by property developers is targeted, constitutional and based on well-established corruption risks.

Read @TheAusInstitute submission to the inquiry. australiainstitute.org.au/report/resto...

Greetings supporters and followers
As the caterpillar of 2026 emerges from its egg, I wonder what sort of butterfly it will become.

"Power and resistance flow through everyday acts of courage. Together, we hold quite a lot of power." - Polly Hemming

There's bravery out there right now, in Australia and around the world. You can pre-order our new book about bravery here: https://australiainstitute.org.au/store/a-time-for-bravery

Labor for example almost lost Bean and Fremantle. Under OPV they would have retained those seats easily and boringly as many Liberal voters would have had little idea their preferences could matter and would just vote 1.

While arguing with OPV supporters is better than arguing with FPTP supporters, 2025 federal again shows why full OPV is bad. In several seats the majors got a serious kick up the pants from non-majors without quite losing the seat, but only because of compulsory preferences.

Yes, well