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What's the deal? (between voter and candidate)

Written by Peter Saul
Sunday, 26 November 2006
Exploring alternative futures for Australia, Peter Saul found himself wondering what a formal contract between voters and their representatives might look like. There is, of course, an implicit contract..... but how well is it recognised? And is it honoured? Dr Saul thought there may be merit in spelling out the details. His draft Contract between political candidates and voters follows. He invites comment and contributions from members of the Futures Foundation and others....
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 November 2006 )
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10m people a year now affected by zoonotic viruses spread by non-human hosts

Written by EurekAlert News Service
Sunday, 19 November 2006
Doctors and veterinarians need to work together to tackle the increasing global threat of zoonotic viral diseases spread by non-human vertebrate hosts – including dogs, cattle, chickens and mosquitoes - according to a review in the November issue of Journal of Internal Medicine. An estimated 50 million people acquired zoonotic diseases between 2000 and 2005 and up to 78,000 have died, reports Dr Jonathan Heeney, Chair of the Department of Virology at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands. And the diseases responsible for the majority of zoonotic illnesses, and a third of the deaths in the study period, appear to be increasing. This is particularly worrying because there are no effective vaccines for some of the most common zoonotic viruses.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 November 2006 )
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Waldzell Dialog 2006: from aspiration to inspiration

Written by Jan Lee Martin
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Take a massive 900-year-old abbey; add two bestselling authors of spiritual books; season with a Nobel laureate in medicine, a famous medical scientist and two “wrap artists”; and throw in a handful of young change-makers. It all added up to the glamour event of the season in the world of spirituality and change: the Waldzell Meeting 2006: “A Global Dialog for Inspiration”.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 15 November 2006 )
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Australia 2026: a post Howard-Costello scenario

Written by Sohail Inayatullah
Monday, 13 November 2006
Drawing inspiration from the recent Australian conference of educators for environmental education, this essay paints a different possible scenario for the future of Australia. It has been almost twelve years since the Howard-Costello run was dramatically defeated. Australians, while enjoying economic rise, tired of the social and environmental divide that followed. The Liberal party had been great at economic growth within the industrial paradigm but the digital era demanded far more flexibility and creativity than a 1950s childhood could give leaders.
Last Updated ( Monday, 13 November 2006 )
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Australia in 2025: A Happy Scenario

Written by Dr Peter Saul
Wednesday, 08 November 2006
The President of the Republic of Australia has just announced the date of the 2026 election. As was the case in the last two elections, the policy platform of all major political parties outlines their particular approach to making Australia more “authentically happy”. This term had been defined more than two decades ago by Dr Martin Seligman as describing the state of using one’s unique talents and strengths in the service of others. After a decade of global crisis (see historical background below), the Liberal, Labor and Green parties are once again fighting the election on their different platforms for promoting a society where “progress” and “success” are defined in terms of human happiness, social harmony and wellbeing rather than GDP, median incomes and stockmarket indices. These traditional economic indicators have now become of secondary importance, providing they are above the threshold levels agreed several years ago by all major parties at a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 November 2006 )
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