CPD’s recently released essay, Big Society: How the UK Government is Dismantling the State and What it Means for Australia outlined the ways in which David Cameron’s Big Society policy has crippled certain state funded services in the UK. The policy has become a household term in the UK, and is debated and criticised among many in mainstream media, yet here in Australia the phrase is little heard of. CPD executive director Miriam Lyons warns of the possible implications of such an agenda being implemented in Australia, “The extreme and rapid dismantling of the state in the UK shows us what we might expect if we continue down this path.”

The whole debate raises some interesting questions about how publicly unpopular theories can be successfully framed to garner support.

For example, John Howard’s ‘voluntary student unionism’ sounded like a positive policy because most people are opposed to things that are compulsory. By removing its fund base, Howard rapidly killed off student activism in Australia.

On the other hand, Greenpeace made huge inroads in their campaign on genetic engineering by introducing the notion (and language) of ‘genetic pollution’. When industry began to use the same expression, Greenpeace’s influence was clear.

Read the full article in Essential Vision here