Reclaiming our Common Wealth: policies for a fair and sustainable future calls for the development of public policy based on Australia’s long term interests and values.

Calling on all Australian politicians to re-think the way they develop public policy, Reclaiming our Common Wealth argues that the short-term thinking of the election cycle is damaging Australia's long-term interests. We need a new approach to policy development based on consistent principles, underpinned by enduring values.
In recent times there has been a great deal of talk about 'values', but there has been little attempt to translate this rhetoric into practical statements of public policy. In this paper we have described a vision for Australia based on the values of freedom, citizenship, ethical responsibility, fairness and stewardship.

Born from an extensive drafting and consultation process, Reclaiming our Common Wealth is intended as a 'living document' which will be reviewed regularly and can grow and change over time.

Reclaming our Common Wealth was launched in June 2006.

Download the document

• Reclaiming Our Common Wealth: Policies for a fair and sustainable future (485KB PDF)

• Reclaiming Our Common Wealth - Two-page summary (40KB PDF)