SCMP News: May 2008

• International Communication Seminar: "Resistance: A Childhood Fighting for East Timor" Speaker: Naldo Rei
• Conference: A future for the Australian welfare state? Continuity and Change from Howard to Rudd
• Joint Seminar: "In the Wake of Economic Reform: New Prospects for a Nation Building State?" by Professor Michael Pusey
• Maison du Café: SCMP HDR Student Activity - 5 to 7 pm; 21 May 2008

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Joint Seminar: "In the Wake of Economic Reform: New Prospects for a Nation Building State?" by Professor Michael Pusey

Joint Seminar: "In the Wake of Economic Reform: New Prospects for a Nation Building State?" by Professor Michael Pusey

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Date: Wednesday 28 May 2008
Time: 3pm-5pm
Venue: Lindsay Room, level 3, U@MQ Building, Macquarie University
For inquiries contact: Dr. Harry Blatterer in the Department of Sociology. Harry's phone number is 9850 8069 and his email is harry.blatterer@scmp.mq.edu.au

Abstract:
Has economic reform run its course? What potential remains for the resumption of nation building progress? Contrary to expectations Canberra emerges from 20 years of neo-liberalism with disciplined government, ample revenues, an effective regulative apparatus and - perhaps - the capacity for government to steer the economy towards a brighter future.

In this lecture, Professor Pusey weighs these prospects against the negative impacts of neo-liberalism on our institutions and then examines from the three viewpoints of: our national political experience, the administrative apparatus, and popular expectations.

Professor Pusey then considers the dynamic energies inherent in the challenges, respectively, of climate change, infrastructure development, and economic policies based on enhancing of quality of life.

Michael is a Professor of Sociology in the School of Sociology, UNSW, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. In the early 1990s Michael Pusey's book Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation-Building State Changes its Mind, started a national debate on economic rationalism and brought the term into public usage. His most recent book, The Experience of Middle Australia, examines the impact of economic restructuring on incomes, jobs, families, communities, politics and Australian culture.

This lecture is sponsored by the Department of Sociology and the Department of Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University.

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Maison du Café: SCMP HDR Student Activity - 5 to 7 pm; 21 May 2008

Come join our 2nd HDR student gathering where you can sit back and relax with your supervisors and colleagues. Department and news updates will be shared while you sip a glass of wine and munch away on delicious snacks. RSVP your attendance today and be in the draw to win $100 of gift voucher! You can find more information from our flyer here.

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Conference: A future for the Australian welfare state? Continuity and Change from Howard to Rudd

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Date: 9am to 5pm; Friday 25 July 2008
Venue: W5C 220, Macquarie University
Speakers include: Francis Castles, Susan St John, Ann Harding

Cost: $30 ($20 for Macquarie staff) includes lunch.

Limited spaces: Register (download flyer) and pay by Friday 27 June.

Contact: Shaun.Wilson@mq.edu.au or phone (02) 9850 8074

Conference aims

This conference takes up questions confronting the Australian welfare state. Over the past quarter century, Australia's welfare model has changed dramatically in design and size. While working families have benefited from one of the most generous family assistance policies in the OECD, welfare-to-work reforms have made basic social security payments increasingly conditional. Meanwhile, a second tier of ‘middle class' welfare has opened up, using tax expenditures to deliver benefits and subsidising private services at the expense of public provision. Labor has been the party of welfare state modernisation in Australia. This conference addresses questions about how the Howard welfare legacy will shape the new Labor government's program, and what we can expect in policy re-design.

Over the day, we'll consider:

• the changing design of the Australian welfare state
  (Francis Castles)
• the problem of tax expenditures as a means of social provision
  (Ben Spies Butcher and Adam Stebbing)
• the winners and losers of the Howard tax-transfer system
  (Ann Harding) and;
• how the public perceives winners and losers over the last ten years
  (Gabrielle Meagher and Shaun Wilson)

To place Australia comparatively, we'll hear from:

• Susan St John on the New Zealand Labour's decade-long experience and lessons for Australia
• Francis Castles on Australia's changing place among welfare states

This lecture is sponsored by the Centre for Social Research on Inclusion and the Department of Sociology at Macquarie University.