Australia's Political Parties: More Regulation? [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 21 2001–02
Scott Bennett, Politics and Public Administration Group
25 June 2002

Australian political parties have to date functioned very much as private bodies, but public demand may be forcing them to be more directly accountable for their activities than could once have been envisaged.
The Queensland Parliament has been prepared to make an attempt in 2002, and this might well turn out to be a watershed for political parties in this country, for once such changes are made in one Australian jurisdiction, it can be difficult to withstand calls for change in others.(42 pages)

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India-US Relations in a Changing Strategic Environment [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 20 2001–02
Dr Ravi Tomar, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Group
25 June 2002

India-US relations have had a turbulent past. It is against this background that the Paper discusses the significant improvements in bilateral relations that have gone relatively unnoticed. The Paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this enhanced relationship for the region including Australia.
(42 pages)

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Accountability of Ministerial Staff? [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 19 2001–02
Dr Ian Holland, Politics and Public Administration Group
18 June 2002

This paper is about the role of ministerial staff in our parliamentary system. It analyses the growth in numbers of ministerial staff. It discusses the accountability of staffers, particularly their accountability to Parliament, in an historical perspective. It also looks at the regulation (or lack of regulation) of the people
who work for the government of the day.(55 pages)

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Candidates, Members and the Constitution [HTML][PDF]
Research Paper No. 18 2001–02
R. Bennett, Politics and Public Administration Group
28 May 2002

The Paper is concerned principally with the rules that determine who may be a member of the Commonwealth Parliament. It examines the relevant constitutional provisions, the associated laws that Parliament has enacted, the various controversies about the standing of individual Members and Senators and the adequacy of the legal framework in which qualifications questions are determined.(78 pages)

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Voters and the Franchise: the Federal Story [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 17 2001–02
Jennifer Norberry, Law and Bills Digest Group
and George Williams (consultant), Politics and Public Administration Group
28 May 2002

The Paper deals with the parliamentary development and evolution of the federal franchise. The Constitution allowed for the extension of the franchise by the Commonwealth Parliament, as shown by women and later the Indigenous population being given the vote. (53 pages)

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Cheques and Balances [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 16 2001–02
Maurice Kennedy, Politics and Public Administration Group
28 May 2002

This Paper examines the provisions of the Constitution in relation to finance affairs. It examines the frameworks within which the Executive conducts its financial affairs and on which the Parliament and the Executive have to interact. The paper questions whether the original Vision has been subverted. (59 pages)

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The Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Power: from Cradle to the Grave? [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 15 2001–02
Dr Andrew Frazer, Politics and Public Administration Group
28 May 2002

The Paper addresses the origin and development of the conciliation and arbitration power by the Commonwealth Parliament. While providing a comprehensive account of the framers' vision, the author also details the largely unsuccessful attempts to expand the industrial power. (86 pages)

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Gambling: An Australian Tradition on the Up!s [HTML] [PDF]
Research Paper No. 14 2001–02
Geoff Winter, Statistics Group
14 May 2002

Legalised gambling facilities and opportunities have expanded greatly in Australia over the last 30 or so years. This has led to substantial increases in amounts wagered, net losses and government revenues, both in nominal and real terms. This Paper concentrates on the financial aspects of gambling and shows how these amounts and the 'mix' of gambling activities have changed from 1972–73.(19 pages)

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Terrorism and the Law in Australia is in two parts: Supporting Materials contains a series of documents on specific issues related to legislative and administrative arrangements:

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Terrorism and the Law in Australia is in two parts: Legislation, Commentary and Constraints describes proposals announced in anticipation of legislation introduced in 2002 in the context of existing arrangements. It also provides a framework and criteria for evaluation of those laws and detailed analysis for parliamentary consideration.(82 pages)

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The Commonwealth election of 2001 was one of the most remarkable of Australian elections. A Government, seemingly on the ropes just months from polling day, is comfortably re-elected. Unusually, major factors in its victory are immigration and international terrorism issues. Soon after the election the merits of the result come into question due to revelations about its response to those issues, and in particular the accuracy of the 'children overboard' affair. This research paper describes the election, analyses the result and gives a full set of figures.(136 pages)

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This paper is a guide to the Budget process and documentation. It describes the the main features of the budget process, explains key terms such as accrual accounting and accrual budgeting, and evaluates aspects of the Budget's content and presentation.(46 pages)

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The Liberal National Party Coalition Government was returned with an increased majority at the 2001 election. The two per cent swing to the Government in two-party preferred terms was the largest swing to an incumbent government since 1966 and was only the fifth time that a government received a swing to it since 1949. This paper puts the recent election result in an historical context by comparing the 2001 result with each election held since 1949. (75 pages)

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Prospects for a settlement of the Middle East conflict are dimmer now than they have been for a decade. This paper analyses the origins of the renewed violence between the Israelis and Palestinians and their respective viewpoints of the conflict. It examines the role of the US in the region and the prospects for a settlement, including the key issue of the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. (38 pages)

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Globalisation represents a lot of different things to a lot of people-parliamentarians, journalists, academics, business leaders and bureaucrats among them. It is welcomed widely and lamented widely-either way it is hard to ignore. The paper identifies and analyses key questions about globalisation, giving special emphasis to its particular implications for the Asia-Pacific region and for Australia. (31 pages)

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Cannabis, the most widely used illicit drug in Australia, is not as harmful (in terms of individual health and public health costs) as tobacco or alcohol abuse. However, there is emerging evidence linking it to the development of dependence syndromes and mental illness, and legitimate concerns about its role in the development of more harmful illicit drug use. The paper presents the most recent information about cannabis use and supply in Australia, as well as the nature of the potential harms associated with cannabis—those harms and social/economic costs associated with cannabis use, and also those associated with the acquisition and legislative control of cannabis. (63 pages)

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There appears to be growing public support for a renewed emphasis on the goals of transparency and accountability, participation, fairness and ethical behaviour in public administration. These goals are important because they establish the authority of citizens over their representatives. For this reason, their rigorous promotion might serve as a circuit-breaker to the cynicism that appears to have gripped Australian voters' perceptions of their political leaders. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion by providing examples of other governments' attempts to institutionalise these goals. These examples are taken from the Australian States and Territories and from Europe, Canada and the United Kingdom. (51 pages)

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As problems affecting the Collins submarines became more apparent, some of their origins were alleged to lie in various aspects of the process which led to the selection of Kockums to design them. Instead, the early development of the submarines highlights adaptation to emerging conditions and the early support of both major Parties. This paper provides a history of the development of the submarine program up to the selection of the Kockums bid. (22 pages) Companion paper to Research Paper No. 3 2001–02.

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The Collins submarine program continues to attract controversy, the latest about decisions made in July concerning the combat system and the location for refit work. Publicly vilified, in reality the Collins does not rate in the top ten of the worst managed defence acquisition programs. The real problem lies in the nature of defence project development. This paper analyses the Collins program and argues that changes to reduce the risk of a re-occurrence include a broader role for Parliament. (62 pages) Companion paper to Research Paper No. 4, 2001–02.

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This Paper focuses on over-clearing and subsequent degradation of the land as the major threats to biodiversity and agricultural productivity. The example of a major wave of bird extinctions, which is now occurring in Australia's temperate agricultural zone, is used to illustrate the problem. Declines are still occurring where clearing ceased decades ago, and the effects of current clearing activity, particularly in Queensland and NSW, have yet to be felt. The problems of the temperate agricultural zone are set to be repeated in tropical areas. Revegetation of cleared land is required to address biodiversity and agricultural decline at levels considerably greater than presently occurring under existing government programs. A new approach based on legislation is suggested to implement Farm Plans to ensure that native vegetation is retained and /or restored over a significant portion of the farm area. (43 pages)

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Indonesia is currently beset by a number of violent conflicts of both a separatist and communal nature. While the relationship between Australia and Indonesia appears to be normalising, these internal conflicts hold the potential to adversely affect the relationship in the same manner as the East Timor crisis. They also threaten to further hinder Indonesia's economic and political revival, an issue of major consequence to the entire region. Much hinges on the approach taken by Jakarta to each conflict. This paper discusses the conflicts in Aceh, Irian Jaya, Maluku and Kalimantan, the consequences of Jakarta's policies towards these conflicts and their implications for Australia. The paper ends by suggesting some possible avenues to their peaceful resolution. (36 pages)

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