Expanding the spaces of deliberation
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70 expanding the spaces of
deliberation
Kay Ferres and Barbara Misztal The liberal character of Australian political institutions and public culture has been tested by the demands of an increasingly multiethnic society. Talk of rights, equality and inclusiveness resonated with notions of tolerance in the 1960s and 1970s, but has since been displaced by a new emphasis on obligation and self-reliance. Public spaces have contracted, and public intellectuals have struggled to find ways to define a common ground. ‘Globalization’ has produced new divisions in Australian society. At the 1967 referendum, indigenous people became citizens of the Commonwealth, as well as of the states, as a consequence of overwhelming popular assent to federal government’s taking responsibility for Aboriginal affairs. In the 1970s, multiculturalism replaced the discredited ‘White Australia’ policy, and was promoted by both the Whitlam (Labour) and Fraser (Liberal) governments. Women assumed a new visibility on public life and their activism saw the passage of equal opportunity and sex discrimination legislation. Their participation also made a distinctive impression on the political culture. Although the number of women elected to state and federal parliaments increased slowly until 1996, when a new generation of Labour women made their appearance and a record number of Liberal women were successful in marginal seats, women made effective use of lobby groups to influence policy makers in the bureacracy as well as in the parliaments. This history has produced a capacity for negotiating the informal processes around policy formation. The establishment of policy branches, state agencies and other institutions underwrote the positive recognition of the diversity and heterogeneity of an immigrant nation and of expanding social and economic citizenship. The Special Broadcasting Service was set up to provide multilingual television programming, though its reach was limited to capital cities. Women’s interests were advanced by the establishment of offices of the Status of Women, the Sex Discrimination Commission within the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Affirmative Action Agency. Although the then federal government was slow to respond to the 1967 referendum, setting up an inactive office for Aboriginal Affairs, the land rights campaign of the 1970s forced changes. Land rights legislation required a formal system of representation of indigenous groups’ interests. Land councils and later the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Commission were set up.
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feminist review 70 2002 c 2002 Feminist Review. 0141-7789/02 $15 www.feminist-review.com (144–148)
The 1980s saw a critical shift in the nature of Australian citizenship and changes in established institutions. Since the 1980s in Australia, successive governments have pursued ‘economic rationalism’ and political institutions have been reformed. These shifts have altered the nature of the Australian citizenship forged in the Federation settlements. When the colonies c
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