Media
News & Events
The Political Realities of Gambling Reform – Keynote Speech
Gambling reform has been a prominent issue during the tenure of the Gillard government. Indeed Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie’s support for the minority Labor government was contingent on support for gaming machine reform. Given this context I was happy to give a keynote address to the National Association of Gambling Studies annual conference in November 2012. The speech provided a general political science perspective on the political barriers to gaming reform in Australia and their implications for stakeholders and policy makers. I’m in the process of finalising this speech for publication which will be available here shortly.
Griffith Review #39 – Tasmania: The Tipping Point – February 2013
The February 2013 issue of the literary and current affairs journal Griffith Review is devoted to Tasmania and the challenges the ongoing challenges the island State faces.
The special issue features a frank and challenging assessment of Tasmania’s economic malaise by Jonathon West and very funny piece by MONA supremo David Walsh.
Essays from the the special issue can be found on The Conversation Website here and a link to my modest contribution (an essay on Tasmanian and the future of Australian federalism) can be found here.
New Book Published – The Dynamics of Global Economic Governance – December 2012
My three year research project on international tax cooperation in the aftermath of financial crisis has culminated with the publication of The Dynamics of Global Economic Governance:The Financial Crisis, The OECD and the Politics of International Tax Cooperation in December 2012. Sincere thanks to the many and varied friends and colleagues who helped with this project.
Details of the book are available here:
ARC Grant Success – November 2012
I was fortunate enough to receive Australian Research Council Funding for two research projects in the 2012 funding round.
The first grant is for a project on ‘Rebuilding Fiscal Federalism’ ($210,000; 2013-15) with Rick Krever from Monash University.
The second grant is on promoting compliance in global governance and is a continuation of my research on international tax cooperation. This project received $190,000 (2013-15) and will be a collaboration with Wes Widmaier from Griffith University.
Recent Publications – early 2011
Some of my recent publications include:
- ‘The OECD in Global Economic Governance’ The Australian Journal of International Affairs. Vol 65, No. 2. March 2011
- ‘The evolution of Labor’s health reform agenda: A preliminary assessment.’ Public Policy. Vol.5, No. 2., 2010.
- ‘The Henry Tax Review, Cartel Parties and the Reform Capacity of the Australian State’ (with Ian Marsh), The Australian Journal of Political Science. September 2011.
- ‘Revolution or Evolution: Sovereignty, the Financial Crisis and the Governance of International Taxation’, Journal of Applied Law and Policy. November 2011
Feel Free to email me if you would like copies of any of these papers.
Recent Media Commentary
Griffith Review #39 – Tasmania: The Tipping Point – February 2013
The February 2013 issue of the literary and current affairs journal Griffith Review is devoted to Tasmania and the challenges the ongoing challenges the island State faces.
The special issue features a frank and challenging assessment of Tasmania’s economic malaise by Jonathon West and very funny piece by MONA supremo David Walsh.
Essays from the the special issue can be found on The Conversation Website here and a link to my modest contribution (an essay on Tasmanian and the future of Australian federalism) can be found here.
Media on tax reform, Tasmanian politics and finances April 2011
2011 has been busy in so far as public debate about tax and CGC reform, State budget strategy and politics is concerned. As a consequence I’ve been reasonably busy fielding various interviews and speaking requests from the media and community organisations.
Highlights include providing the ‘political outlook’ presentation at the recent Committee for the Economic Development ‘2011 Tasmania Outlook’ conference. The audio of the presentation is here.
ABC Radio Tasmania Friday Forum
I recently (October 29) appeared as a panelist on ABC Radio’s Friday Forum. The panel discussed the recent parliamentary debate on Australia’s military commitment in Afghanistan and the challenges facing the Tasmanian Tourism Industry (among other issues) . The podcast can be accessed here:
Interview on the 2010 Federal Election Campaign
To view a recent (July 30) ABC Stateline interview on the 2010 Federal election campaign click here
Making Minority Government Work
The March 20 2010 Tasmanian election confirms the fact that the State now has a multi-party system. The challenge is to establish a political culture as well as institutions and strategies that can deliver stable and effective multiparty government.
Reflecting this aim the School of Government hosted a well attended public forum immediately after the State election addressing the issue of ‘making multi-party systems work’.
Information on the Forum is available here.
ABC television coverage of the Forum is available here.
The Hobart Mercury’s coverage of the forum is available here.
Complete video footage of the event is available here.
My recently published Oped on making minority government work is available below:
Making Minority Government Work – April 19 2010
The result of the recent state election was both predictable and surprising in equal measure. While few could have predicted the exact twists and turns of our post-poll political thriller, the fact that Tasmania would be governed by some flavour of minority government was widely anticipated.
Tasmania’s proportional electoral system combined with the fact that we now have three established political parties means that majority government is likely to become the exception rather than the rule in our island State. The challenge is to build a political culture and establish institutions and practices that can deliver stable and effective government in our multi-party system.
It’s true that minority governments can become dysfunctional leading to instability and conflict , but it’s equally apparent that multi-party systems are becoming increasingly common and can deliver stable and effective government.
The first lesson from abroad is that minority government requires a culture of compromise such that political parties are willing to put the overarching goal of providing stable government above any short-term policy or partisan goals. Clearly creating a more accommodation political culture requires real leadership and the transition from the current adversarial politics to a more consensual model will take time.
In terms of relationships between parties, a multi-party system must be sufficiently flexible to allow a government to survive a major disagreement between governing parties. The evidence suggests that formalised partnership agreement between parties setting out a shared legislative program tends to enhance stability as long as the parties can agree to disagree on certain matters.
There are also a good number of international precedents for the formation of successful multi-party cabinets. Given the size of the Tasmanian parliament and its increasingly multi-party nature, it is vital that we establish agreed procedures for broadening cabinet representation. To this extent David Bartlett’s recent offer to Nick McKim was a positive development which reflects the new realities of Tasmanian politics.
However it is important to recognise that there are many risks associated with such arrangements. Again flexibility is the key. A minor party cabinet minister must be able to vote against a cabinet decision although such a decision can’t be taken lightly and must be made in good faith and with fair warning. Another risk with multi-party cabinets is they can blur the lines of accountability. One side can easily blame the other for policy failures and the voting public are none-the-wiser because of cabinet confidentiality. A specific problem with the structure of the Bartlett offer was that McKim would have been obliged to try to convince his party room to support Labor policy while being unable to share confidential cabinet information. This may have put the Greens leader in an isolated position and would have promoted divisions in the party.
Given that Labor is governing in minority without either a partnership agreement or a multi-party cabinet it will be extremely important to establish a more open and democratic approach to policy development in order to minimise inter-party conflict on the floor of parliament.
The introduction of a robust committee system in the House of Assembly would be a practical and important step towards this goal. The objective of such a system would to be to provide a deliberative forum where stakeholders and experts could provide input on significant political issues early in the policy process.
Unlike other forms of public consultation, the advantage of an Assembly-based committee system is that all three parties would have an input into proceedings and would contribute to the findings of committee reports. The hope would be to create a process where all three parties could contribute to policy development with a view to identifying and building common ground on issues from Tasmania Tomorrow to health reform.
If a committee delivered a majority report on a particular issue with the support of two of our three parties then it should enhance the prospects of legislative action without unduly destabilising the minority government. While this system won’t deliver consensus in relation to the most contested issues, at least the parties know what is possible prior to any parliamentary debate.
Committees have greased the wheels of government in most advanced democracies for decades. Countries such as the United States, where the President seldom has control over Congress, would be completely ungovernable without a committee system trying to build a census for various legislative agendas. Tasmania should learn from the international experience in this regard if our multi-party system is to have the best chance of delivering the stable and effective government Tasmanians deserve.
Dr Richard Eccleston is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania. www.richardeccleston.com