People’s Agenda for Parliament ‘08

GetUp have finalised the results of their survey which saw partcipants (supporters, donors, volunteers, etc.) rank what they consider to be the most important issues in Australian politics at the moment. The results show that the environment, education and preventative health care are the progressive issues that need priority. GetUp are teaming up with the Centre for Policy Development to develop a coherent platform which will be posted online; members will be encouraged to meet with their local MPs to try and get support for the policies and a budget submission will be made later in the year.

Membership driven policy development is the best way to get people involved in the political process. It’s something the Greens encourage through policy working groups which are comprised of ordinary members within the state parties. Nationally, state working group delegates belong to national working groups and help co-ordinate federal policy ideas and try to get alignment in the state policies. I’m very impressed with this effort by GetUp and hope that the new Labor government are more receptive to GetUp than the previous government were. Issues like education and health are two of the ALP’s big issues (with the environment being owned by the Greens) and the public will no doubt have their eyes on Rudd, Roxon, Gillard, Wong, Garrett, et al to deliver. Should these ministers ignore the efforts of Australia’s largest grass-roots non-partisan organisation they may find themselves in trouble.