Well, whether it’s an empty talkfest or a serious contribution to our nation’s future, the Australia 2020 conference now has a website.
Nominations need to be in by February 25, and supported by two personal referees. For those that don’t get in, there’s the opportunity to make a 500-word submission; whether these will actually get read is open to question given that all the participants are volunteers attending in their spare time.
Scarily enough, Andrew Bolt, in the midst of a blog post full of his usual hobby-horses actually makes one reasonable point about the summit:
A summit is a grossly inefficient way to get the views of 1000 experts, where one presents while the rest listen. As anyway who has been to such corporate raa-raas themselves know, such things are usually about telling the crowd rather than listening to it. What’s more, it’s a format in which dissenters are marginalised and consensus imposed.
If they are at all serious about this exercise being anything other than the spin Bolt (and others on LP’s previous post on the idea) believe it is, let’s hope the summit organizers aren’t planning to waste too much time on plenary sessions.
Great. The leader that recently got elected on the basis of “fresh idea” brings back the 1983 style “summit”. At least he also has a 1999 style website to back it up - complete with a document I can open in MS Word 1997.
Gives me a good feeling about the whole thing.
I think it’s high time we stopped criticizing the Jabberfest of the Chosen Kilo and got busy thinking about the wild costumes we will be wearing for the ceremonies that will inevitably come when the New Religion born of the Chosen Kilo is established.
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I favour lime green druid outfits myself. But as I am not Chosen I must refrain from having any ideas of my own. Only the Chosen Kilo has ideas. They are creative. We are not.
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Hang on. Sounds like Saachi and Saachi.
I should also point to the tech community’s efforts in trying to broaden the scope of representations made to the summit, their site 2020summit is up and discussion has started.
It’s easy to knock this kind of exercise but it might have some benefits if it acts as the catalyst for new networks to form and new links between government and other sources of policy advice. The formal bits of conferences are as useless as parliamentary debates but frequently some good developments emerge just from having a lot of people in the same space for a period of time, chatting in the breaks and at meals. I’m all for anything that might open up our decision-making processes a bit so give the thing a chance … it’s not like it’s going to be enormously costly, nor will it have authority to make any binding decisions.
The real test is whether Australian actors are present. If Cate Blanchett, for example, is in attendance, I think we can put the whole thing to bed as thoroughly pointless.
BBB
That thought’s not original to you, BBB. I saw it somewhere in the weekend papers. Who’s to say that Blanchett wouldn’t have something to contribute? She’s an intellectual cut above many celebs, and that’s been recognised widely. Would you have the same view about a major Australian novelist? I don’t have a problem with people involved in culture being involved in discussions about ideas about culture! If it was Kylie Minogue or someone…
One of the ten topics is on the future of the arts and films. Why wouldn’t you want to hear what Blanchett, one of Australia’s most successful actors (critically and commercially) has to say?
Actors are cattle.
Rudd will use this to identify, name and tag those cultural forces he wants silenced. He will give them a microphone, a faint smile, mild applause, and then the rest of the nation see how out of touch they are.
Blanchett is an artist working at an international level. She may well be appropriate for the arts and film conclave.
In the name of equity we really should be holding a conference for our Worst and Dumbest too. And to reinforce that they too are God’s creatures and have a voice (however painfully it may squawk) we should refer to them not as dim bulbs or dopes but as Special
So the Special K website should permit nominators to upload pictures of luminaries such as Kylie, Corey, the Bra Boys and Jamie Packer because typing may be difficult for them.
Special K could then debate such crucial questions as best colours for iPods, does Paris Hilton wear underwear, who is hot on Idol, who is going on Big Brother etc. Ground-breaking stuff!
Kylie Minogue has managed to turn very modest singing talents into a two-decade international career as a recording artist, and made a pile of money in the process, most of which she’s managed to invest quite wisely according to what I’ve heard.
Minogue may be many things, but I don’t believe dumb is one of them.
does Paris Hilton wear underwear
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Unfortunately we all know the answer already.
Robert Merkel, I agree with you. She’s one smart cookie.
Kim, yes I saw her name mentioned last week, along with others, but only as a possibility. The piece I saw was neither positive nor negative, though. Please tell me she didn’t get a run in the Sunday Life.
BBB
Fair enough, BBB, and I can’t remember where I saw it.
As to Minogue, you may have a point, Robert. I was actually reaching for the name of another Neighbours star turned singer/celeb, but it’s completely slipped my mind.
Cate Blanchett made the winner’s presentation and gave a substantial speech at the 2004 Miles Franklin Literary Award dinner (for those of you who don’t know this, that’s the most prestigious literary award in the country). She spoke brilliantly and without notes about the work of Australian women artists — writers, painters, musicians and actors, and of course Miles Franklin in particular.
She is extremely knowledgeable about the arts in Australia and very, very smart. I can’t for the life of me work out why anyone here is trashing her, particularly as anyone who’s ever seen her act must know how intelligent she is. Or is merely being famous enough to earn the contempt of people who are not?
Blanchett is cool with me fwiw, I’d also like to see John Bell and those gamers that produced the Warlords series. Bagging Kylie is so pre ‘where the wild roses grow’, as well as all RM’s observations i’ll add the fact that she does the Mirrabel Foundation http://www.mirabelfoundation.com/ fundraiser whenever she is in town.
People like BBB think it’s smart to slag off actors with opinions, mainly because in most cases the opinions don’t coincide with his own.
Blanchett is a very smart cookie indeed.
As to gamers, I spotted Glyn Davis outside the Australian Centre for Interactive Design at QUT’s Creative Industry precinct the week before last. So watch this space!
As a postscript, Australia has an incredibly creative and successful games design industry - which as far as I can tell swims completely beneath the MSM radar - strangely because it generates a huge amount of income - perhaps because it can’t be boxed into political stoushes easily and perhaps partly because of the “this is not art” factor. Speaking of which, I’d love to see the Marcus Westburys of the world get a guernsey.
For a whole host of reasons, I think you might get a better result from being asked to nominate others rather than self nominate. It has obvious advantages in avoiding barrow pushing, and also overcoming modesty, as well as the peer recognition factor.
Blanchett is smart, rich, famous, and a luvvie into the bargain.
For some people (no names, no pack drill) that is more than they can handle.
The fact that she is also an undeniably beautiful woman probably doesn’t help either, Spiros.
I second the nomination of the Bra boys( commentators on political and cultural development in inner cities ) and would also think that past and current world surfing champions( Nat Young- successful developer and tourist operator , Mick Fanning current world champ ) should be invited.
Qicksilver and Billabong are major international fashion labels which started in Australia . They have promoted a consciousness and knowledge of Australia around the globe. Their CEO’s would also have relevant ideas for this summit.
In Australia we also have an incredibly successful gambling industry. As it is also so destructive a force in some families I hope a good number of it’s best and brightest are invited and asked to meet with those who have seen the more bitter results of problem gambling.
Far out, who would’ve thought mention of Blanchett’s name would have produced such angst. She is merely an example (albeit a good one, I think, because she is a real darling of the kind of self-styled thinking lefty for whom ‘Australia 2020′ and its ilk are very exciting). I have nothing against Blanchett, or any actor for that matter. She is obviously very smart. It’s just that there are only 1000 spots for this get-together, and the list of Australians more able to contribute to a serious conference which is apparently designed to be agenda-setting in extremely important areas such as ‘the Australian economy’, ‘Infrastructure’ and ‘Governance’, is very much longer than 1000. ‘Creative Australia’ is there too, but let’s face it, unnecessarily so. I’m not sure how that is ‘trashing’ her, or ’slagging’ her off (incidentally, adrian, do you ever get anything right?).
BBB
Why? I’m really pleased it’s there. It’s a very significant element of our national life, economically as well as culturally, and one in great need of “fresh thinking”!
So Cate’s in, excellent.
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Now how about someone who has experience turning a small Australian provider of cultural goods into a global enterprise. We’ll need someone preferably with experience in publishing, print, television, radio, the internet and satellite narrowcasting.
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What about Rupert?
Kylie Minogue has far more to offer the culture panel than the Catharine Lumbys of this world.
Alright Kylie’s in too. Look I know Rupert’s got a face like an elephant’s scrotum but he probably could offer some insight. Is the Jabberfest of the Chosen Kilo to be an intellectual thing or a red carpet affair?
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Why are you looking at me like that?
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And also maybe Shi Zhengrong.
There are only three really important media companies in the world, and Rupert runs one of them. Of course he should be there.
Rupert is no longer an Australian, and his campaign for World Domination is progressing at the expense of Australian civilisation. He should not be there.
I expect you’ll be nominating John Greenfield.
I reckon we’ll end up with 1,000 Ron Paul fanatics.
Not that the summit would be any more stupid for it.
What a strange comment to make, Kim.
Harried Hermione has only appeared on LP recently, and I’m sure she would have absolutely no idea who John Greenfield is!
Rumour has it they’re bonking each other…you heard it here first…
JG disappears, HH appears. They seem to have identical views. JG had several earlier existences on this blog under other names, Paulus.
HH would do well to adopt a different tone if she wants to avoid the comparison.
I’m in! Recognition at last.
Jacques,
Does that mean GMB gets a guernsey? Priceless.
Bolt’s point isn’t even as sharp as the one on the top of his head. I’ve been to many such corporate sessions, and, yes, they are about the imposition of consensus, but that doesn’t appear to be what’s on offer here. 2020 appears to me to be more on the order of a one-off think-tank meeting, and may very well engender some progressive ideas and actions, and may engage at least some of the Special K in a kind of internal nation-building exercise on an on-going basis. O.k., yeah, it’s pie-in-the-sky until something actually comes out of it, but if we get even one good result, it’ll have been worth it (whether it comes from Kylie or Cate).
Why restrict the Jabberfest of the Chosen Kilo to citizens? Murdoch is Australian culturally. I saw him on The Simpsons he talked ’strine n’ enrythink? His Seppo citizenship’s simply in furtherance of his plans to make a zillion dollars and rule the world.