10 March 2022
Good Government: What it does, why we need it and why small government won’t work
A pandemic has required the Australian government to take centre stage, both in terms of spending and regulating. But much of its spending has been without a clear sense of what governments should and should not do. The present government is committed to returning to the “small government” model, realising JK Galbraith’s dismal vision of private prosperity and collective poverty.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
About the speakers
Ian McAuley and Miriam Lyons are authors of Governomics: Can we afford small government? (Spoiler – we are paying dearly for the “small government obsession.)
Ian McAuley
Ian McAuley describes himself as having lived and breathed public policy. He has been an engineer in a manufacturing firm (in the days when we had a home-grown manufacturing sector), a trade commissioner, a policy analyst and a manager in the federal Department of Industry, and until retirement a lecturer in public finance at the University of Canberra. His writings, and his weekly update of links to economic and political commentary, are at his website www.ianmcauley.com
Miriam Lyons
Miriam Lyons is a policy analyst, writer and commentator. She was co-founder and executive director of the Centre for Policy Development, in which role she became well-known on ABC media, including Q&A and The Drum. More recently she ran climate justice campaigns at GetUp, and she is now working to support campaigners across the country to repower Australia’s economy with renewable energy.
more about Miriam Lyons
Balmain Institute Inc. 