Search results

Preliminary -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Inside the Queensland Parliament -- Part I -- 2. Parliament's refusal of supply anddefeat of Labor, 1957 -- 3. The early Nicklin years,1957-1963 -- 4. Safely in the saddle: the Nicklingovernment, 1963-1968 -- 5. The Nicklin government's legislative program -- 6. The oppositional parties in the Parliament, 1957-1968 -- 7. The Pizzey-Chalk interlude, 1968 -- Images -- Part II -- 8. The early Bjelke-Petersen years,1968-1969 -- 9. The slide towards uncertainty,1969-1972 -- 10. Commanding the Parliament,1972-1975 -- 11. All power corrupts, 1976-1980

Part 1.Reflections on federalism.Federalism and the engine room of prosperity /Wayne Swan --Does federalism work? /John Brumby --What has federalism ever done for us /Anna Bligh --Splicing the perspectives of the Commonwealth and states into a workable federation /Terry Moran --The reform imperative and Commonwealth-state relations /John Brumby --Fostering creativity and innovation in cooperative federalism -- the uncertainty and risk dimensions/Mark Matthews --Part 2.Reflections on policy and politics.Cabinet government: Australian style /Patrick Weller --Consumers and small business: at the heart of the Trade Practices Act /Graeme Samuel --Constitutional litigation and the Commonwealth /David Bennett --Evidence-based policy making: what is it and how do we get it? /Gary Banks --Part 3.Reflections on governance and leadership --The two cultures re-examined: a perspective on leadership and policy management in business and government/Philip M Burgess --Leading the Australian Defence Force /Marshall Angus Houston --Essential linkages--situating political governance, transparency and accountability in the broader reform agenda /Andrew Murray --Part 4.Reflections on adaptive change.14. Higher education: it's time ... (to change the policy framework) /Ian Chubb --Achieving a 'conservation economy' in indigenous communities: a Canadian model for greening and growing local economies/Ian Gill --From crystal sets to the double helix in one journalist's lifetime /Peter Thompson.

This collection of 'critical reflections' on Australian public policy offers a valuable contribution to public discussion of important political and policy issues facing our nation and society. These essays are important not only because of the reputation and position of the various contributors, but because they are incredibly 'content rich' and brimming with new ideas.

1. Introduction -- Improving Implementation: the Challenge Ahead -- 2. Driving Change to Bring About Better Implementation and Delivery -- 3. Managing Major Programs and Projects: A View from the Boardroom -- 4. How Boards and Senior Managers Have Governed -- 5. Overcoming the 'White Elephant' Syndrome in Big and Iconic Projects in the Public and Private Sectors -- 6. Organisational Alignment: How Project Management Helps -- 7. 'Crazy Thought or Crazy Thinking': Reform in the Real World -- 8. The Australian Taxation Office Exchange Program: Project and Change Management Directions and Learnings, A Case Study -- 9. Applying Three Frames to the Delivery of Public Value -- 10. Building Capacity for Policy Implementation -- 11. Program Management and Organsiational Change: New Directions for Implementation -- 12. What is a Project Management Culture and How de we Develop it and Keep it Alive -- 13. Project Management and the Australian Bureau of Statistics: Doing What Works -- 14. Intervention Logic/Program Logic: Toward Good Practice -- 15. Implementing Gateway in the Australian Government -- 16. Governments Can Deliver: Better Practice in Project and Program Delivery -- 17. The Gateway Review Process in Victoria -- 18. The Australian Government Cabinet Implementation Unit -- 19. Organising for Policy Implementation: The Emergence and Role of Implementation Units in Policy Design and Oversight.

This collection of papers is concerned with issues of policy development, practice, implementation and performance. It represents a range of views about diverse subjects by individuals who are, for the most part, in the public eye and who have the capacity to influence the shape and the reality of public policy. Each has a story to tell, with insights that can only be drawn by those working at the 'sharp end' of policy.