Centre for Policy Development's Blog, page 53

G20.org | 27 May 2014

Roundtable with Pascal Lamy to discuss long-term global outlook

 

CPD joins the top table at Treasury to discuss Australia’s agenda for forthcoming G20 meetings, and policy approaches to address intergenerational concerns.

 

Read more on the G20 website

 

 

Help CPD bring real expertise and evidence to the table! 

 

ABC Lateline |

Pascal Lamy interviewed for key late night audience
Extremism and anti-Europe sentiment in EU Parliament elections

Pascal Lamy’s Australian speaking tour, as hosted by CPD, coincided with contentious elections in Europe.

Mr Lamy was interviewed by Emma Alberici on key ABC current affairs program Lateline. Pascal Lamy predicted that the EU Parliament will remain strongly pro-European despite rising antipathy from “significant voices” such as France and the UK. He warns that these European elections are not national ones and we “should not extrapolate these national results to the European level”.

Mr Lamy also stressed the need for better global governance mechanisms at the local level.

We need more global governance, but we recommend not to put all our eggs in global institutions. It sometimes is more efficient to localise globalise problems than to globalise local problems – Pascal Lamy

Access the recorded interview on ABC iView.

Pascal Lamy is the former Director General of the World Trade Organization and chairs the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations. He is in Australia for the launch of the Commission’s report Now for the Long-Term – which investigates global governance structures which could better address intergenerational issues and a more sustainable, long term policy approach. 

 

Help CPD to insert  evidence   and  real expertise into Australian policy debates

2014 Internship Semester 2 Applications

The Centre for Policy Development seeks to combat the short-termism of the political cycle by producing creative and far-sighted ideas for a fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable Australia. CPD interns get to work on some of Australia’s long-term challenges, debate the issues, create innovative responses to them and help to communicate the findings.

We have two intakes per year in Sydney and Melbourne to coincide with academic semesters. Internships typically demand an investment of 100-150 hours; pay a small daily stipend to cover expenses; and are eligible for course credit at most universities.

2014 Internship Semester 2 Applications

All of our Semester 1 interns have decided to continue their research, finance and communications projects throughout Semester 2 and therefore places in our program are extremely limited until 2015.

Exceptional candidates who still wish to apply for an opportunity this year, read on!

COTA Australia National Policy Forum | Canberra | 22 July

Making an Australia for all ages – what’s the plan?
CPD Chief Executive Travers McLeod keynote

COTA Australia is the peak national organisation representing the rights, needs and interests of older Australians. Hosted by the National Policy Council, COTA’s Forums are high level strategic events that explore the opportunities and challenges that face older Australians as they seek to participate in our community.

It is expected that by 2056 one in four people living in Australia will be over the age of 65 and 1.8 million of them will be over 85.

What this means has been the subject of much public debate and this year’s Federal Budget includes a number of measures that ask significant sacrifices of older Australians to manage this future.

COTA Australia sees the need for a more integrated approach.

This forum will bring together the key thinkers, in this space, to focus on how ready Australia is to harness the potential and meet the challenge of our rapidly ageing society.

Where:

National Press Club of Australia, National Circuit, Barton, ACT | map

When:

22 July 2014

Registration:

To register your interest email events@cota.org.au or call Leanne Lovell on 03 9909 7910.

More information:

http://www.cota.org.au/australia/Events/2014/national-policy-forum-2014.aspx

High level roundtable on asylum seeker policy | 11 July, Parliament House, Canberra

High-level roundtable on asylum seeker policy.

A joint initiative of CPD, Australia21 and the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law

 

CPD is working with two partner organisations to convene a roundtable on asylum seeker policy at Parliament House in Canberra on 11 July. Our collaborators are Australia21 and the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW. Supported by the major parties, the roundtable will provide an opportunity for a diverse group of policymakers and experts to consider the options in open dialogue, and to explore the feasibility and practicability of a new approach to asylum seeker policy. The roundtable will be conducted under Chatham House Rule and be informed by a discussion paper being prepared by CPD.

 

DONATE to help CPD insert real evidence & expertise into Australian policy debates!

 

Generosity | 20 May 2014

Looking for Long-Termism.
What do people think of when they hear the phrase ‘think tank’?

Travers McLeod, CPD’s CEO believes the phrase think tank is too abstract. In a recent article for Generosity Magazine Travers points out that most Australian’s wouldn’t know what a think tank is. Sam Gibbs, author of the article, discusses the phrase with Travers. The concern is that it might not clearly convey CPD as an independent research body with no alignments to political parties, one of the few ‘think tank’s that discloses its funding. CPD aims to find long term solutions to challenges that face Australia.

“CPD’s mandate is to inject new ideas into Australia’s public policy debates. Its research papers and community of research fellows are charged with the task of “reimagining” the public sphere, of seeking out new ways of thinking about the state of the country, and of translating policy discussions for the general public.”

Read the article at Generosity Magazine

 

Pascal Lamy, Ross Garnaut and Rod Eddington: ‘Valuing the future’ | Melbourne, 26 May

A discussion chaired by John Langmore, with Pascal Lamy, Ross Garnaut, Rod Eddington and Laura Eadie

An invitation-only event co-auspiced by Melbourne School of Government and Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at University of Melbourne, addressing the question of how Australia’s choice of discount rates impacts our long-term planning and investment.

Discount rates are a tool to compare the future value of something to its value in today’s currency. They allow investors to weigh up costs and benefits that occur at different points in time. They also influence how much society is willing to invest for the future, and how much to consume today. A high discount rate means we consume more now, and invest only in projects with high short-term payoffs (regardless of any negative long-term consequences). A low discount rate means we invest more now, particularly in projects with longer-term returns.

 

Governments make implicit judgements about the value of current, relative to future benefits when they select discount rates for evaluating investments.

This is a closed event. Please see the public event in this series which will be in Sydney on 28 May.

National Growth Areas Alliance Congress | 15-17 October, Adelaide

Growth works!
2014 Inaugural NGAA National Congress

The City of Playford in South Australia will be hosting the 2014 Inaugural National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) National Congress from 15-17 October 2014.

Centre for Policy Development CEO Travers McLeod joins the cross-sectoral panel, with  Andrew McDougall, Assoc Prof John Spoehr, Lance Worrall, and Dr Tim Williams, discussing the challenges and possibilities of creating next generation industry and jobs in outer suburban areas.

A summary of the program to date is as follows:

Wednesday 15, October 2014: Site Tours & Welcome Reception

Thursday 16, October 2014: Conference & Awards Night Dinner

Friday 17, October 2014: Conference

Registration (register before 20 June for early bird rates!):

http://ow.ly/wRwv5

Full program:

http://ow.ly/wRw82

Pascal Lamy: ‘Now for the Long Term’ | Sydney, 28 May

Register FREE now: CPD presents a public lecture by Pascal Lamy

The ability to address today’s global challenges is undermined by the absence of a collective vision for society. We urge leaders to establish shared global values to protect the prospects for future generations.

– Pascal Lamy

CPD is partnering with the UTS Business School, for the Australian launch of Now for the Long Term, the report of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations chaired by Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the World Trade Organization.

The Centre for Policy Development is delighted to announce that it will host Pascal Lamy for a series of events and meetings in major Australian cities in May. This speaking tour will provide insights for business, government and community leaders about challenges that are reshaping the global landscape and on which action appears gridlocked.

Public Lecture: Aerial Function Centre, 12-2pm Wednesday 28 May

Mr Lamy will speak on the following topic: “Now for the long term: addressing the global governance deficit”.  The lecture will be followed by a panel session with eminent Australians on some of the issues raised. The programme will also include questions from the audience.

Where

Aerial UTS Function Centre, Ultimo, Sydney

When

Wednesday 28 May, 12-2:00pm Light lunchtime refreshments will be available to suit most dietary requirements

Registration/further information

This is a free event, but registration is essential.

Register (via UTS Business)

 

About the speaker

Pascal Lamy began his career in the French civil service before becoming an advisor to Finance Minister Jacques Delors, and then Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy. From 1985 to 1994, he was Chief of Staff for the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, and his representative as Sherpa in the G7. In November 1994, he joined the team in charge of rescuing Credit Lyonnais, and later became CEO of the bank until its privatisation in 1999. Between 1999 and 2004, Pascal Lamy was Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission under Romano Prodi. He is currently an honorary President of independent think tank Notre Europe, based in Paris. He holds degrees from the Paris based Ecole des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC), the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP) and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA).

The Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations gathered 19 international leaders from government, business, academia, media and civil society to address the growing short-term preoccupations of modern politics and business and identify ways of overcoming gridlock on challenges confronting countries around the world. Its report, Now for the Long Term, calls for a radical shake-up in politics and business to embed long-term thinking, and provides practical recommendations for action in order to create a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future. Since its launch in October 2013, Now for the Long Term has been downloaded over 850,000 times in more than 150 countries.

Until joining CPD as CEO in 2014, Travers McLeod worked for the Oxford Martin Commission as a Policy Adviser and remains an Associate of the Oxford Martin School. The Australian launch, generously hosted by UTS Business School, will be accompanied by a public lecture from Mr Lamy, will take place on Wednesday, 28 May at the Aerial UTS Function Centre in Sydney.

 

Visit cpd.org.au and facebook.com/centrepolicydev for updates and further events in the series

The Guardian | 14 May 2014

Australian Budget 2014: the panel verdict
Matt Grudnoff, Andrew Leigh, Trisha Jha, (CPD’s) Laura Eadie, Frank Bongiorno and Ged Kearney all weigh in on Joe Hockey’s first Budget

What’s missing is an understanding of the real structural changes taking place in the global economy. Ageing is just one global mega-trend challenging economic growth. Other trends are as big or bigger. We’re heading into a carbon constrained world. In Asia particularly, we’re seeing a race to control resources and win advantage in green technology. – Laura Eadie

Read ‘Budget 2014: the panel verdict’ on guardian.com/commentisfree

There is more than one way to do policy. Help CPD uncover the evidence and point to the alternatives: add your voice to ours!