Australia 2020 Summit
Encyclopedia
The Australia 2020 Summit was a convention
, referred to in Australian media as a summit
, which was held on 19-20 April 2008 in Canberra
, Australia
, aiming to "help shape a long term strategy for the nation's future". Announced by the new Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd
, the summit drew limited bipartisan support from Brendan Nelson
and the opposition Coalition
parties, and ran as 10 working groups of 100 participants.
1002 delegates attended the summit to discuss ten "critical areas". Ideas and proposals were invited from all members of the community, and an official web site was set up to accept submissions.
The 10 critical policy areas were:
The summit was led by a 11-member steering committee, whose initial membership was announced on 26 February 2008. The committee played a key role in selecting the other participants, and each member led one of the working groups together with a government co-chair. Since the initial announcement, Dr Kelvin Kong (Indigenous Australia) withdrew due to family health reasons, and Dr Jackie Huggins was appointed to replace him. On 14 April 2008, an additional co-chair, Dr Julianne Schultz, was announced for the Creative Australia stream.
The members of the steering committee are as follows:
The summit was initially criticised for the near-absence of women on the 11-member steering committee who would pick the 1,000 delegates—only actress Cate Blanchett
had been named. The Government responded by saying six of the co-chairs would be female politicians. By the time of the summit, there were three women on a 12-member committee. Additionally, other commentators such as the Institute of Public Affairs
, Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
and Australian Monarchist League
criticised what they saw as the unrepresentative nature of the delegates, which in their view biased the final report towards republicanism
and ideas such as constitutional reform and a bill of rights
.
Some of the delegates themselves expressed criticism of how the summit was conducted. In particular, claims were made that the final paper which purported to represent the resolutions of the sub-groups did not reflect ideas which they had espoused or did include ideas which they had not discussed, possibly reflecting an agenda which had been determined before the summit. Others were concerned that hard issues, such as terrorism in the group examining foreign affairs and security issues, were ignored.
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
, referred to in Australian media as a summit
Summit (meeting)
A summit meeting is a meeting of heads of state or government, usually with considerable media exposure, tight security and a prearranged agenda.Notable summit meetings include those of Franklin D...
, which was held on 19-20 April 2008 in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, aiming to "help shape a long term strategy for the nation's future". Announced by the new Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, the summit drew limited bipartisan support from Brendan Nelson
Brendan Nelson
Dr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...
and the opposition Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
parties, and ran as 10 working groups of 100 participants.
1002 delegates attended the summit to discuss ten "critical areas". Ideas and proposals were invited from all members of the community, and an official web site was set up to accept submissions.
The 10 critical policy areas were:
- Productivity—including education, skills, training, science and innovation.
- Economy—including infrastructure and the digital economy.
- Sustainability and climate change.
- Rural Australia—focusing on industries and communities.
- Health and ageing.
- Communities and families.
- Indigenous Australia.
- Creative Australia—the arts, film and design.
- Australian governance, democracy and citizenship.
- Security and prosperity—including foreign affairs and trade.
Participants
- For full list, see: Australia 2020 Summit participantsAustralia 2020 Summit participants-Australia 2020 Summit Delegates :The general list of the Australia 2020 Summit participants, and their working groups, announced on 28 March 2008, is:-A long-term national health strategy:*Professor Diane Geraldine Alcorn*Ms Pat Anderson...
The summit was led by a 11-member steering committee, whose initial membership was announced on 26 February 2008. The committee played a key role in selecting the other participants, and each member led one of the working groups together with a government co-chair. Since the initial announcement, Dr Kelvin Kong (Indigenous Australia) withdrew due to family health reasons, and Dr Jackie Huggins was appointed to replace him. On 14 April 2008, an additional co-chair, Dr Julianne Schultz, was announced for the Creative Australia stream.
The members of the steering committee are as follows:
| Working group (stream) | Committee member | Government co-chair |
|---|---|---|
| Chair | Professor Glyn Davis Glyn Davis Glyn Conrad Davis, AC is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.- Early life :Professor Davis was educated at Marist Brothers College, Kogarah... |
N/A |
| Productivity | Warwick Smith Warwick Smith (politician) Warwick Leslie Smith AM is an Australian politician, and was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from December 1984 to March 1993 and again from March 1996 to October 1998, representing the Division of Bass, Tasmania.... |
Julia Gillard Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved... |
| Economy | Dr David Morgan David Morgan (businessman) David Raymond Morgan AO is the former CEO and Managing Director of Westpac Banking Corporation, one of Australia's four major banks and Chairman of the Australian Bankers Association.-Early life, education and personal life:... |
Wayne Swan Wayne Swan Wayne Maxwell Swan is the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1993 to 1996, and then re elected in 1998 till today , representing the Division of Lilley, QLD... |
| Sustainability and Climate Change |
Roger Beale | Penny Wong Penny Wong Penelope "Penny" Ying-yen Wong , is an Australian Labor Party senator for South Australia and the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Wong was the first Australian Minister for Climate Change and Water. Her appointment was amended on 26 February 2010, by the Prime Minister, to the... |
| Rural Australia | Tim Fischer Tim Fischer Timothy Andrew Fischer, AC , is a former Australian politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 before retiring from Cabinet in 1999... |
Tony Burke Tony Burke Anthony Stephen 'Tony' Burke is an Australian politician representing the Labor Party, and the current Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities . He first entered public office in 2003 as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council... |
| Health | Professor Michael Good | Nicola Roxon Nicola Roxon Nicola Louise Roxon is an Australian politician, and is the Minister for Health and Ageing. She has been a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives since 1998, representing the Division of Gellibrand, in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria.-Early and personal life:She... |
| Communities and Families | Rev. Tim Costello Tim Costello Timothy Ewen Costello AO is a prominent Baptist minister and current CEO of World Vision Australia.He is an "Australian Living Treasure". He is the brother of former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins Peter Costello.... |
Tanya Plibersek Tanya Plibersek Tanya Joan Plibersek, MP , is an Australian politician with the Australian Labor Party, and Federal Minister for Social Inclusion and Minister for Human Services. She has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the seat of Sydney, New South Wales... |
| Indigenous Australia | Dr Jackie Huggins (replaced Dr Kelvin Kong) |
Jenny Macklin Jenny Macklin Jennifer Louise Macklin , is an Australian politician. She is Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in the Gillard Ministry... |
| Creative Australia | Cate Blanchett Cate Blanchett Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award... and Dr Julianne Schultz |
Peter Garrett Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett, AM, MP , is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and politician.Garrett was lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil from 1973 until its disbanding in 2002... |
| Australian Governance | John Hartigan | Maxine McKew Maxine McKew Maxine Margaret McKew , is a former Australian politician and journalist; she was the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the Rudd Ministry and the First Gillard Ministry. Between 2007 and 2010, she was the member of the House of... |
| Security and Prosperity | Professor Michael Wesley Michael Wesley Michael Wesley is an Australian academic and currently works as Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Prior to joining the Lowy Institute, he was Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University.... |
Stephen Smith Stephen Smith (Australian politician) Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia.... |
Related events
Several events were held in the lead up to the Australia 2020 Summit:- 2020 Youth Summit: For 100 young people (15 to 24 years) from around Australia in Canberra, 12 and 13 April 2008.
- Canberra 2020 Summit: For Canberra residents, on the theme of innovation, in Canberra, 5 April 2008.
- Foundations of Open: Technology and Digital Knowledge: Australian National University, Canberra, 3 April 2008.
Criticism
The summit was initially criticised for the near-absence of women on the 11-member steering committee who would pick the 1,000 delegates—only actress Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
had been named. The Government responded by saying six of the co-chairs would be female politicians. By the time of the summit, there were three women on a 12-member committee. Additionally, other commentators such as the Institute of Public Affairs
Institute of Public Affairs
The Institute of Public Affairs is a public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation and deregulated workplaces, climate change skepticism , and the...
, Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy is a group that aims to preserve Australia's current constitutional monarchy, with Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia...
and Australian Monarchist League
Australian Monarchist League
The Australian Monarchist League is a non-profit organisation, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, promoting the monarchy of Australia, and providing information to members of the public about Australian history and the Australian Constitution...
criticised what they saw as the unrepresentative nature of the delegates, which in their view biased the final report towards republicanism
Republicanism in Australia
Republicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's status as a constitutional monarchy to a republican form of government. Such sentiments have been expressed in Australia from before federation onward to the present...
and ideas such as constitutional reform and a bill of rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
.
Some of the delegates themselves expressed criticism of how the summit was conducted. In particular, claims were made that the final paper which purported to represent the resolutions of the sub-groups did not reflect ideas which they had espoused or did include ideas which they had not discussed, possibly reflecting an agenda which had been determined before the summit. Others were concerned that hard issues, such as terrorism in the group examining foreign affairs and security issues, were ignored.
External links
- The Official site
- The final report
- Coverage of the event (by ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
) - Coverage of the event by professor of politics, Robert ManneRobert ManneRobert Manne is a professor of politics at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.Born in Melbourne, Manne's earliest political consciousness was formed by the fact that his parents were Jewish refugees from Europe and his grandparents were victims of the Holocaust...
, May 2008, The MonthlyThe MonthlyThe Monthly is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer Morry Schwartz...