Introduction

Australian politics and public policy are at an impasse and face many challenges given economic, political and social turbulence in both the domestic and global spheres. The overwhelming defeat of the Rudd Labor Government in the 2013 federal election and the decisive election of a Liberal–National Party Coalition Government led by Tony Abbott as Australia's 28th Prime Minister make the likelihood of progressive public policy a more distant prospect. Yet Labor's defeat is also an opportunity for progressives to think again about public policies addressing the key issues of today. This book brings together leading authors strongly engaged in public debate to examine trends, generate insights about current policy directions, and articulate ideas for a new progressive policy agenda. While mindful of the complexity and dilemmas entailed in such a project, and the deep-rooted dominance of neoliberal thinking over many years, pursued to varying degrees by both Labor and Liberal Coalition Governments, our aim is to help build analysis of the ways in which such an agenda can be pursued. With some exceptions (for example, McClelland and Smyth, 2010), recent discussions of Australian public and social policy have been mainly built around, on the one hand, change and improvement in public policy processes, and on the other hand, contributions from journalists and politicians reflecting on contemporary political and policy directions and dilemmas (for example Kelly, 1994, 2009; Tanner, 2011; Gallop, 2012; Megalogenis, 2012). There are also various contributions to the policy debates about economic rationalism and centrist and centre-left alternatives, material to be discussed in more detail later. We hope this book contributes critical insights building on these perspectives. This chapter, along with Mark Davis's contribution (Chapter 2), sets the scene, providing some context about contemporary Australian public policy.

The history, socioeconomic and political context of nation states leads each to respond to what may appear as common dilemmas in slightly different ways. Our focus is on Australia but without losing sight of debates and policies elsewhere. We believe that after 30 years of neoliberal ideas and policies holding sway, it is important that in seeking a progressive public policy future, we return to the universalist foundational values of social democracy on which post-war policy was largely framed but modified and extended to give prominence to sustainability, equity, gender and caring principles.