Leading thinkers from Australia and abroad outline how we can make change for the better in What’s the Big Idea?: 30 Years of The Australia Institute. Photo: Supplied.
Winston Churchill said to improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
What’s the Big Idea?: 30 Years of The Australia Institute fits perfectly into this frame after the publication of the institute’s first title, which features 34 big ideas for a ”Better Australia”. Some of Australia and the world’s foremost thinkers were invited to outline how we can make change for the better.
The Australia Institute has spent the past 30 years producing research that matters, and this anthology offers fresh thinking on topics ranging from the housing crisis to climate action, safeguarding our democracy, the importance of bravery in policymaking, mental health, the Australia-US alliance, and how to address some of the biggest issues of our day.
We also learn how changes to Australian law can improve conditions for whistleblowers and women supporting sexual assaults, and the importance of access to accurate and comprehensible information for citizens and lawmakers alike.
The institute, an Australian public policy think tank based in Canberra, has carried out research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues since its launch in 1994. Conducting high-impact research for an enhanced Australia, the institute has shown how to make the impossible feel inevitable, and the immoderate seem reasonable. The works in this inspiring collection serve as a reminder that the solutions are there; Australia just needs the courage to implement them.
The institute’s executive director Richard Denniss, who is also a prominent Australian economist, author and public policy commentator, sums up precisely how this first title best commemorates the three decades.
“At The Australia Institute we are always looking for new ways to promote our bold thinking and big ideas,” he said. “In our 30th anniversary year, with big challenges to our democracy, economy and environment, what better time to launch our own publishing imprint, Australia Institute Press.”
It is easy to be captivated by global agendas and headline-grabbing moments, but shaping Australia’s future will require homegrown creativity, problem-solving and true Aussie courage. In What’s the Big Idea?, leading thinkers share their vision for the nation and explore how we can take back control of our future while tackling today’s most pressing challenges.
The editors say there have been incredible changes for both the institute and Australia as a country for many years. Things we once thought impossible are possible, and ideas that once seemed radical are now part of the mainstream.
Fresh thinking abounds. Following on from the 2023 Voice Referendum, Aunty Pat Anderson and Thomas Mayo offer some reflections and ideas for the path forward. Clare Wright describes the extraordinary potential embodied in the Yirrkala bark petitions.
Just as the contributions to this book are daring and comprehensive, the introduction by former Justice of the High Court of Australia Michael Kirby recaps the boldness in the hope of what the institute would become when he launched it all those years ago. He highlights how diverse the research impact of the institute has been and continues to be. The foreword by John McKinnon reminds us that aiming for relaxed and comfortable is not defensible and that the work of the institute is pushing for far more positive change.
Maiy Azize contributes to the debate on how we can address housing shortages. Brian Schmidt reflects on the role of curiosity-driven research. Despite being a wealthy country, there are significant shortfalls in health policy, to which Fiona Stanley, Rebecca Glauert and Patrick McGorry offer solutions. Christine Milne, Bill Browne and Alana Johnson reflect on what is working and what is not in Australian democratic processes.
Going global, President José Ramos-Horta explores what the word “security” actually means in the context of international relations. Emma Shortis, John Langmore and Allan Behm ask what role Australia can choose to play on the world stage, and Melissa Parke shows the shortcomings in current approaches to nuclear weapons.
Sunita Narain and Anote Tong write about the massive discrepancies in the effects of climate change on different communities. Bob Brown, Richard Denniss and Yanis Varoufakis ask us to reassess how we think about the economy and its relationship to society. Lucy Hughes Turnbull and Karrina Nolan consider the ways planning and construction in cities and First Nations communities can make for more comfortable conditions as the planet warms.
Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, in this instance, had it right: “The only thing that is constant is change”.
What’s the Big Idea?: 30 Years of The Australia Institute, edited by Anna Chang and Alice Grundy, Australia Institute Press, $39.95
