Introducing a public lecture series with a difference

Common Ground is a new quarterly public lecture series in Sydney. Hosted by the Centre for Policy Development, each Common Ground event will hand the microphone to not one, but two eminent Australians. Common Ground will bring together people from different worlds, opposing parties, or conflicting interest groups and invite them to talk about what they have in common.

Australia is getting tired of political debates between ‘usual suspects’ with fixed and predictable opinions. The popularity of private members' bills where members of different parties worked together on shared goals demonstrates a widespread belief that where values, principles or good ideas run across party lines, politics shouldn’t get in the way.

Support for a fairer, more sustainable society now comes from all quarters. The business roundtable on climate change brought major businesses together with the Australian Conservation Foundation to advocate strong and early action to cut CO2 emissions. Campaigns for the protection of human rights and civil liberties have crossed religious and political divides. Politicians from both sides of the house speak of the need to overcome short-termism and spin in government.

Common Ground and the future of Australian public policy

Everybody loves a slanging match, and a good debate can highlight important problems and challenge unquestioned assumptions. Some differences of opinion are genuinely irreconcilable, reflecting fundamentally opposing worldviews or priorities.

But many of the traditional faultlines in Australian politics fade into insignificance when we take a long-term view. It is in all of our interests to strengthen our democracy, to build an economy which leads the way on environmental and employment standards, to provide the best possible education to all children, to look after the health of all citizens at a sustainable cost, and to foster a society which is both diverse and cohesive.

Right now, Australia's most pressing challenges can only be solved if those who represent competing interests can cooperate to serve our common interests. Through Common Ground, the Centre for Policy Development aims to give the leaders of this cooperation a national platform.