Prepared by: Kais Al‐Momani Nour Dados Marion Maddox Amanda Wise C
Download 16.24 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- LOC A L
- E L E CT O R A L S YS TE M
- P O L I TICA L P ARTIES
OTHER RECOMMENDED ROLES AND DIRECTIONSLOCALLocal governments could, with support: 1. Promote and run sessions to encourage underrepresented culturally and linguistically diverse communities to educate them about, and encourage them to run for councils, with support from other levels of government and possibly via state associations. 2. Develop further materials to promote running for councils (for example along the lines of the NSW State Government publication ‘Becoming a Councillor’, and similar resources in other states). 3. Actively disseminate materials on running for councils through mosques, Muslim community organisations, Muslim online forums and community opinion makers and influentials. 4. Given significant under‐representation of Muslims there, focus resources on a community engagement program in Victoria, drawing on the sessions and materials, to encourage greater and more diverse participation of Muslims in local government. 5. Support a mentoring program to twin existing councillors with politically‐compatible aspiring councillors of Muslim background. THIRD SECTOR (NGOS / COMMUNITY SECTOR/EDUCATION)The third sector can continue successful programs, with funding body support. In doing so it should in particular consider the strengths of existing programs as follows: 1. The ‘Leadership Australia – A new generation’ program ‐ 1.1. Its skills focus, attention to ongoing alumni engagement, and facilitation of mentoring and networking opportunities. 1.2. Its youth focus, including efforts to involve disenfranchised youth with leadership potential. 1.3. The potential for extension of this kind of program to older age groups, for example including Muslims who have shown leadership potential in their professional lives. Some potential influentials do not get to the stage of being ready for leadership or political participation until they have some years of professional experience, for example, in a university, or a public service role. 1.4. The value of including higher level professional leadership and political skills training, similar to the EMILYS list ‘Empowering the Community Sector’ program, which covers topics such as: Introduction to Lobbying; Election Campaigning for a Cause; Progressive Debate Framing; Managing the Media. Other relevant skills might include: becoming an opinion maker; Canberra visits (to understand the political process and meet politicians); sessions with public servants on policy development; political advocacy; entering politics and running for office. 1.5. The potential to make such programs available in different national centres, rather than relying on ‘flying in and flying out’ of the Victorian base. This is particularly important to facilitate the participation of young people whose parents are uncomfortable with them travelling alone, as well as of women and men with family. 2. The La Trobe Leadership Training for Young Muslims’ study tour to Parliament House, along with strengths identified in the Leadership Australia ‐ A new generation program which are also applicable to it. 3. The Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth ‘Believe, Achieve & Inspire’ Leadership Program – 3.1. The value of providing participants with a university diploma. Incorporating this into programs gives participants something very concrete to use in their professional advancement. 3.2. Its grounding in Islamic values. 4. The potential of current and future media skills training that engages Muslim communities to move focus from simply providing comment to journalists, to becoming an opinion maker: how to write and publish opinion pieces. 5. The potential for all programs to extend to other non‐Muslim culturally and linguistically diverse communities with similar needs and issues, for example through a body to run co‐ordinated activities under the general banner of increasing the participation of ethnic minorities in Australian politics.
International models for making electoral districts more representative should be considered. For example, the classic discussion of diversity and political representation is Anne Phillips, The Politics of Presence (Oxford University Press 1998). Phillips analyses the USA’s practice of redrawing electoral boundaries to achieve ‘race‐conscious districting’ is one way of enhancing the prospects of ethnic minority candidates in single‐member proportional systems. The move was justified on an interpretation of the 1965 Civil Rights Act as implying the right of ethnic minorities to be represented by a candidate of their own choosing. POLITICAL PARTIESThrough the forums detailed above, it would be possible to work with and within the main political parties to develop strategies to enhance ethnic minority participation in Australian political life, in particular, providing pathways in the major parties for culturally and linguistically diverse party members with political aspirations. Australia is a long way behind other nations in recognising that political representation should reflect the diversity of the population. Indeed, both Canada and the UK collect and compile data each elections on the participation of minorities in elected office. See for example the UK research paper: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsg‐01156.pdf Innovative ideas to increase diversity in Australian parliaments could be reviewed as part of considering reforms. For example, in 1998, Australian political scientist John Uhr proposed that ‘Parliament should introduce legislation to require parliamentary parties to account through the Australian Electoral Commission for their schemes for gender equity against appropriate parliamentary guidelines, at the risk of losing public funding.’ Uhr points out that the Australian system has tended: to treat political parties as private organisations, although they are, in fact, public bodies registered with the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission can enforce certain standards of conduct upon parties, with access to public funding an important lever. As Uhr explained: Political parties are eligible to receive a public subsidy based on their share of the vote received and, of course, successful candidates and parties receive all manner of public support, including personal salaries, staff costs and office expenses. Parliament sets the terms and conditions of accountability required of participating parties. If these are violated, the parties have to pay back their public subsidy. Parliament’s oversight is through the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. Uhr, considering means for boosting the proportion of women in Parliament, suggested that ‘gender equality of opportunity’ in the parties should be ‘an additional eligibility test’. His proposal was based on the Affirmative Action (Equal Opportunity for Women) Act 1986, which required employers of over one hundred people to report annually to the Affirmative Action Agency on their efforts to improve the representation of women in their workplaces. Those that failed to report, or had made insufficient progress, were named in Parliament. Following a review, the Act was renamed the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 and some of its provisions were weakened, including by removing the requirement for non‐ complying employers to be named in Parliament. Against a background of weakening political protections for women’s equality with men in the workplace (Summers 2003), it is not surprising that Uhr’s proposal to compel political parties to observe comparable requirements to those imposed on businesses were never pursued. However, Uhr’s promising suggestion could well be adapted to increasing ethnic diversity. Reminding parties that they are beholden to taxpayers and that they are expected to achieve certain public goods might be attractive in a period of high voter cynicism about party processes. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> documents -> 01 2014 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> The south australian government gazette documents -> All public acts appearing in this gazette are to be considered official, and obeyed as such documents -> Union interparlementaire inter-parliamentary union 01 2014 -> Voices Shaping the 01 2014 -> Muslim Voices – Hopes and aspirations of Muslim Australians Centre for Muslim Minorities & Islam Policy Studies 01 2014 -> Editors: Kerry Download 16.24 Mb. Share with your friends:
|