Page 3180 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 23 August 2017
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We vote for a package. I would hazard a guess that it is no-one’s ideal. How do we know what the community’s priorities are when they are not presented as part of a political package deal? Participatory budgeting is one way of finding out. We all know that real budgets involve choices, trade-offs, priorities and compromises. I acknowledge that the ACT government has existing budget consultation processes that include considering submissions from peak bodies and community stakeholders, but this is not enough.
These groups, of course, lobby for their causes, as they should. But unless we want the ACT’s budget to grow from $5 billion to $10 billion we need to make decisions about priorities. We know that if we spend more money on roads, for instance, than we do on public transport, it will mean that more people have to drive to get around and cannot use public transport. Our buses will be overcrowded and infrequent. Household expenses go up because households are forced to run two cars. Congestion goes up and incidental exercise from walking to the bus goes down, which could be bad for our health. These are the sorts of trade-offs that the government has to make in the budget. Participatory democracy is a proven method to use so that the community can help decide priorities and resource allocation.
The Greens-Labor parliamentary agreement commits the government to improve community input as part of its budget review, which is why today I am calling for this commitment to take the shape of a participatory budget pilot. The Greens believe that stronger citizen participation in decision-making will lead to better outcomes for all Canberrans. We believe that a range of deliberative democracy processes must be used to facilitate engaging and inclusive conversations and, more importantly, influence government actions that shape the future of our city. The Greens are pleased that the government has committed to its first citizens jury trial as well as funding community engagement training for government staff and the recruitment of a participatory democracy expert.
I am pleased that the topic has been announced. It is third-party insurance. While this is not of major interest to all of us, I acknowledge it is an important and complicated issue. I am particularly pleased that in its announcement the government has committed to provide extensive information to the jury and to implementing the jury’s preferred outcome. I understand that there will be more juries to be announced soon. There is certainly no shortage of possible subjects for citizens juries. Ones I would suggest could be public housing, playground provision or lowering the voting age.
Getting back to participatory budgeting, I note that our budget is in the order of $5.5 billion. We are unique within Australia as we combine both local and state government level functions. Our government has to ensure on the one hand that our waste is collected, streets are clean and public recreation facilities exist while on the other hand providing health, education services and a judicial system.
There have been at least six recent participatory budgeting processes in Australia. They were in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. All of these have focused on municipal services and expenditure. This is the sort of thing that is gaining
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