People have, at least once in their life, have fantasised about what they would do if they were to run their country as the President/Prime Minister/Commander In Chief etc. I'm no exception.
Here are some sporadic points on various topics/issues which I would like to see my government put into motion (in my lifetime I hope).
In order for any new political party to emerge these days, a single purpose/policy is not enough to make a significant dent against the Labour/Liberal duopoly. Sound policies, and an awareness of the current state of the world are vital.
These thoughts likely will come across as wishful thinking and be dismissed as such. That's fine. I don't really care if you take these points seriously or not. It is merely an opinion which will likely go unanswered. Please keep that in mind before you feel triggered by any of the points below.
In order for any new political party to emerge these days, a single purpose/policy is not enough to make a significant dent against the Labour/Liberal duopoly. Sound policies, and an awareness of the current state of the world are vital.
These thoughts likely will come across as wishful thinking and be dismissed as such. That's fine. I don't really care if you take these points seriously or not. It is merely an opinion which will likely go unanswered. Please keep that in mind before you feel triggered by any of the points below.
Political Infrastructure
- Locate and employ specialists across many industries to become advisors for the proper handling/management of their respective industries - this will aid in creating better policies
- This has been done in Canada by the Trudeau administration
- The idea here is to ensure there are qualified people in positions to make optimal decisions
- Removal/Reduction of party contributions
- these contributions unfairly influence an MP's policy decision which should be based on the benefits of the country and it's people, including long after they hold office, NOT just the wishes of a particular business
- Review of Remuneration Tribunal and methods used to estimate salaries and expenses
- Possibility of replacing this system, which is clearly corruptible, with a performance based system whereby a politician's promises must be kept to achieve a higher salary
- Currently the director of the Remuneration Tribunal has ties to the fossil fuels industry
- Electronic system showing full transparency of government actions and intentions
- shows all policies
- planned
- active/passed
- inactive/historical
- show what policies politicians are working on
- show community favour on topics and issues
- allow for easy auditing of the decision making process
- shows all policies
Technology & Science
- National Broadband Network (NBN)
- The immediate cease of MTM (Mixed Mode Technology) implementation except where Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) has been implemented, and replacing MTM with FttP where it has been used.
- This is about cutting the losses of the current overblown budget implementing MTM and implementing a lasting solution which provides better bandwidth and is simpler to maintain
- Assigning a board of IT professionals to manage the NBN for the country including:
- Physical infrastructure maintenance and future proofing
- Internet security and counter-terrorism
- Fee review
- potential removal the "new development" fee which feels like double-dipping the taxpayer purse (taxpayers paid for the NBN to begin with)
- Reduction of wholesale prices to be more competitive and increase affordability
- Allowances for long term recovery of losses
- The immediate cease of MTM (Mixed Mode Technology) implementation except where Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) has been implemented, and replacing MTM with FttP where it has been used.
- Tech Infrastructure
- Review and change laws which make it difficult for tech startups to establish themselves in Australia
- This is about reducing the likelihood of technology talent moving overseas
- Review and change laws which make it difficult for tech startups to establish themselves in Australia
- CSIRO
- Review of recently closed departments and exploration of new departments with the outlook of expanding and reopening departments
- Hire more staff accordingly
- Increase funding accordingly
- Funding for research into
- increasing efficiency into renewable resources in all aspects
- graphene based technologies (computing, etc)
- Expand scientific reach to allow assistance in multiple sectors through use of locally-made technological advances
- Review of recently closed departments and exploration of new departments with the outlook of expanding and reopening departments
Resources
- Energy/Electricity
- Transition coal-fired plants to renewable alternatives
- Not necessarily solar or only solar; Utilisation of various renewable sources depending on location to even out base load power
- Retrain existing power station staff
- Zero job loss plan
- Not all at once
- Need to make sure each plant has been properly replaced and the renewable sources meet the power requirements before moving on to shutting down the next coal-fired plant
- Investment and incentives for Australian companies to establish and expand a renewable energy industry with the goals of providing the country, then internationally, renewable energy
- Creation of infrastructure to sell excess energy offshore
- Export excess energy to the rest of the world
- Conversion of government owned and run facilities to incorporate renewable energy solutions (solar, wind, etc)
- Transition coal-fired plants to renewable alternatives
- Scaling back, but not complete elimination, of fossil fuels
- Maintain production of coal for use in
- steel manufacturing
- graphene research and production
- carbon fibre production
- other carbon-based materials e.g. radioactive carbon for scientific/medical use
- The idea is to make every piece of coal we have work smarter for us instead of it simply being burnt off as cheap fuel
- Reduction of coal exports and increase of energy exports
- Transition the economy to be a major energy supplier for SE Asia
- Maintain production of coal for use in
- Complete cease of any and all fracking and gas exploration in areas with known, or discovered, underground water supplies
- Protection of all water sources on the world's driest continent is important
- Complete cease/ban of oil and gas exploration in the Great Australian Bight and Antarctica
Humanitarian
- The closure of all offshore facilities and the creation of a facility on-shore in which asylum seekers will be held and taught various skills in order to improve integration (general English reading/writing, road rules and etiquette, basic Australian history, Australian laws [including the differences to other countries] and anything else deemed appropriate)
- Reduction of offshore funding to minimum required by U.N. and redirection of it to assisting local industry suffering from issues (e.g. drought-stricken farmers) as required
- Establishment of an official Aboriginal council in Federal Government in order to work with Aboriginal [and Torres Strait Island] communities in the best possible way. This council will be headed by Aboriginal elders
- Disaster relief fund and contingency planning
- Planning for fast deployment with all personnel informed and able to communicate effectively to respond as quickly as possible
- Speed in responding is vital
- Planning for fast deployment with all personnel informed and able to communicate effectively to respond as quickly as possible
- Increase awareness and support for many forms of prolific abuse including
- Child abuse
- Spousal/partner abuse
- Rape victims
Agriculture & Water
- Water distribution is to prioritise the country's food security first and foremost with requirements from mining and commercial crop (e.g. cotton) to be considered after this
- A review of agricultural processes and water usage with leading experts with an outcome for more efficient water usage, reduced waste output, better yields, better quality, and in a [more] sustainable manner
- Review of water restrictions given changing climate patterns and adjusting where necessary
- Catchment of rainwater run-off instead of directly sending it out to the ocean
- Boosting reservoir/dam levels artificially using desalinisation plants powered using renewable energy
- CSIRO to research the recycling/re-purposing of waste run-off by farms and industry
- A farmer relief fund and deployment plan in the event of natural disasters (including drought, flood, fire, cyclone, etc)
- Includes utilisation of the defence forces to tackle major events
- CSIRO to assist in developing better tools to combat these emergencies (catastrophic fire, flood, etc)
- Review of crops being grown in regions to determine appropriateness (to the climate) e.g. growing rice/cotton in a desert resulting in excessive water consumption
- Shutdown of these water-heavy farms with the outlook to move them to more water-plentiful (tropical) zones
- Promotion and growing of native sustainable foods both locally and internationally
- Native plants are more ideal for Australia's climate as well as creating a unique food identity which is not simply a replica of those overseas
- More funding into research and containment of pest/invasive species
Health
- Increase funding to hospitals and public health system
- Review and update of hospital equipment
- Including training for staff
- Review of pricing by private health insurers
- Dedicated high-speed broadband for all hospitals
- allows use in real-time remote medical procedures by specialists/experts worldwide
- Increased funding for aged care facilities
- Includes an review of management practices for each facility to ensure a high standard is met/kept
- Nationwide pandemic plan
- storage of non-perishable medical supplies sufficient to cater for every person in the country distributed to medical facilities based on census population statistics
- seed bank for post-pandemic agricultural recovery
- safeguard for food security
Education
- Reduction of funding to private/elite schools
- Increase in funding to public schools
- Funding obtained through collection of tax from large companies(?)
- CSIRO and local tech companies to upgrade school technologies
- Funding and encouragement of physical fitness including funding for sporting equipment and after school sports activities
- Reduction in university fees for Australian students
- Aim to eliminate fees for Australian students
- Increase in school counsellors to combat study stress
- Introduce a food sciences component in early learning
- Review the education system with an outlook of making learning more personalised and flexible
- Learning is done at the student's own pace
- Modules are taught and individually examined
- Students unlock modules to progress their level which in turn unlocks more advanced dependent modules
- Students can FAIL, but can retake/review modules, even if passed, to refresh their knowledge
- Students choose the modules they wish to learn
- They can also see which modules are required for a certain career path they may wish to pursue
- This is to encourage the student's own desire to learn
- Students can interact with fellow students within the modules they are undertaking
- This allows like minded students to interact
- Teachers are assigned students which fall within their qualifications
- Limited to 20 students per teacher for better inter-personal interaction
- Teachers will have a set of modules which they are qualified to teach
- Teachers are not limited to the type or number of modules they are qualified to teach so long as they meet the module's standards
- Teachers must be kept up to date on module changes/updates so that they are teaching the very latest information
- Teacher salary ....
- Based on a universal base wage with increases depending on the no. modules they are qualified to teach and the no. students being taught
- Weightings based on module complexity and students in each module
- Based on a universal base wage with increases depending on the no. modules they are qualified to teach and the no. students being taught
- Intra-teacher network
- Allows teachers to communicate with each other to better help students and/or resolve issues which may arise
- Teachers offloading a student to another teacher [for whatever reason] will still be paid but based on the progress level of the module reached by the student at the time of transfer
- Learning modules are to be maintained and kept current via the Education Minister in collaboration with the CSIRO and Teacher's Union
- The knowledge within each module is to be kept unbiased and secular unless it is a religion-specific module
- Modules are to maintain the highest quality of teaching standards
Environment & Tourism
- Re-introduction of marine parks/reserves and no fishing zones accompanied by a community awareness and education campaign explaining the motivation and outcomes
- Protections of old growth forests and national parks
- Working with the logging industry to establish and implement a sustainable logging practice
- Restoration and review of areas affected by damaging mining practices with the outlook of the reintroduction of species which existed in the area prior to the damage
- Review of invasive species and procedures to control their spread
- Increased funding for employment of more rangers to enforce environmental laws and restrictions (e.g. catch limits, dumping, etc)
- Co-operation with local law enforcement to apprehend lawbreakers
- Review and promotion of high class eco-friendly tourism industry
- Discussions with the Aboriginal Council to determine appropriate methods of maintenance for forests
- planned burn-offs to reduce ground leaf-matter
- Create a tourist etiquette document for all tourists to read identifying local customs and possible laws which they may run in to e.g. bar lockout times, queue behaviour, etc
- Integrate with the existing Tourist Information network which can handle location-specific customs
Transport
- Set the groundwork for the creation of an Australia-wide high speed rail network (not just east coast)
- Connect major cities with inner "hub" towns
- Allows for long distance commuting and better distribution of population
- Look into the viability of an electric and/or hydrogen refuelling network to support a growing number of [more] eco-friendly vehicles
- Consumer incentives for uptake of zero emissions vehicles
- Increase reliance on renewable energy usage and less on imported oil
- Investigate expressions of interest for a local manufacturer of zero emissions vehicles
- Revival of the Australian car industry with an outlook to create local electric vehicles
- Establishment of a space industry with local industry support
Defense/Military
- Tie in defense industry with the space industry with the aim to accelerate space travel technologies
- Tie in space tourism
- Guns and gun laws
- License expiry after 3 years
- Psychological review required for renewal
- Full traceable audit of guns and ammunition
- QR codes on all weapons and ammunition by manufacturers?
- Prioritise local industries for defense contracts
- Submarines and warships
- Review of law enforcement protocols
- [Mis]Treatment of indigenous persons in custody
Economic/Workforce
- Increase minimum working age from 14 years and 9 months to 15 years old, unless with special exemption e.g. family businesses, to be determined on a case-by-case basis
- Review into changing the work week to be a 4 day work week with a 3 day weekend instead of a 5 day work week
- changing the emphasis from "live to work" to "work to live"
- Review of all tax cuts for large business
- Make it illegal to determine an employees pay based on gender - this will look into issues such as the gender pay gap
- Review the possibility of a universal living wage for all Australian citizens
Mining/Heavy Industry
- Review of environmental restrictions for adequacy/sufficiency
- Increasing and enforcing penalties for breaches in waste management and environment damage
- Rebates to fit factories with renewable energies to reduce loads on electricity grid and improve self-containment/sufficiency
- Also allows factories to continue at a similar/reduced output in the event there is a power outage
- Waste byproducts to be reviewed by CSIRO where they are not considered at a safe level to be introduced to the environment
- CSIRO to suggest treatment(s) and implementation of solutions
- e.g. fracking fluid, waste water runoff
Property and Land Management
- Buyback of foreign owned properties used for commercial purposes
- Cotton farms etc
- Increased protection of old growth forests
- Fire hazard reduction to take place in collaboration with Aboriginal Council
- Increased protection of marine parks
- Proven track record for fish sustainability
- Creation of more public housing to reduce waiting lists
- Funding to homeless shelters along with re-education possibilities to give the homeless a chance to re-skill and break the cycle
Arts & Entertainment
- Restoration of funds to the arts and entertainment industry
- Encouragement of international brands to film in Australia
- Improve tourism opportunities
- Include careful management of environmental impact
Economy
The aim of this section is to find the money for the above endeavours.
- Reduction of tax breaks for the top 1%
- Reduction of tax breaks/exemptions for
- Large multi-national corporations
- Fossil fuels/mining industry