Most elections in this country feel like a matter of degrees. But at 36, I’ve just voted for the first time for something that actually feels like it could make a positive change. If you’re considering voting no, and (as statistically likely), you’ve voted referenda down in the past, ask yourself: is this about me, […]
Canberra, by Brendan Ashton on Flickr On Wednesday March 1, 1899, the town of Bowral and it’s neighbours in the Southern Highlands joined other contenders hoping to become Australia’s capital city. Moss Vale-based newspaper The Scrutineer records that “there was fairly good attendance, between 40 and 50 gentlemen being present, including residents of Mittagong, Bowral, Moss […]
I have settled on a case-study approach to my PhD research. It will focus on five local governments in the greater Illawarra region of New South Wales, considering how they form and react to public issues via participatory media. The five local governments, Wingecarribee Shire, Wollondilly Shire and Wollongong City, Shellharbour City, and Kiama Municipality, have been […]
This is an extract from my PhD research proposal review, submitted and approved in September 2013. As this is an introduction to a proposal, it is exploratory and sometimes vague. It does not contain all information and data I have collected on a particular point to the moment of writing, nor does it claim to […]
I’ve been thinking and writing about these two terms a bit recently as I work through my preliminary PhD research. The term e-government is largely used in an organisational context. That is, it describes the strategies used to arrange governments to respond to the possibilities and perceived challenges that digital communications tools pose. Meanwhile, e-democracy […]
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese today joined the Brisbane Lord Mayor to announce a referendum that will for the first time recognise local government in the Australian Constitution. While the actual wording of the referendum question is yet to be announced ((The draft bill Constitution Alteration (Local Government) 2013 […]
Following completion of my honours year in 2012, I applied for and received admission to a PhD program at the University of Wollongong, and an Australian Postgraduate Award. I’m looking forward to beginning work on the project, but at this stage it is still in the very early developmental phase so I’m finding it hard […]
Wingecarribee Shire Council has announced their intention to renovate the Shire’s ageing Civic Centre today. General Manager Jason Gordon says the building is in need of some major work: in its current state the building does not meet numerous modern building codes including accessibility and mobility, environmental, customer and Workplace Health and Safety standards. Council […]
I’ve been putting it off, but time moves inexorably, and it won’t stop (nor even slow) for me. I have to really make some careful decisions about where I want my life to go – not just for the next six months or year, but for decades. If you follow this blog, you may know […]
With just over a year until Local Government elections in NSW, candidates have already begun to emerge. There are three Councils I’m usually interested in: Wingecarribee; Wollondilly; and Wollongong. Of those three, Wollongong has recently had elections after several years without an elected Council and the new Councillors will serve five years rather than four. […]