Enter the Australian Fabians Young Writers Competition & win $1,000

What are the most important issues facing Australia today? What practical policy solutions do you have to address those problems? Can you convince people of your argument in 1,000 well-written words?

The Australian Fabians Young Writers Competition for the Race Mathews Award is open to all young political thinkers and activists in Australia aged 18 – 30. We want to hear your view on any policy issue relevant to Australia today.

First prize is $1,000 and the winning article will be considered for publication in Fairfax Media and online publications

Entries close Monday 30 April 2012

For more information and to enter visit www.fabian.org.au/youngwriters

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Posted in: young fabians,young writers competition

Why blog?

Political ideas matter. They shape more than just government policies, they shape our values, how we understand the world, even what people think is possible. If anything, the past decade in Australian politics has shown how powerful political ideas can be and how they can reshape the nation.

Historically, the Fabians have played an important role in shaping political ideas by encouraging debate and discussion. The advance of progressive policies can only come through engaging in the battle of ideas. However, as progressives, we cannot confine debate about political ideas and public policy reform to ourselves. Influencing and changing policies means engaging with others in that discussion. It makes a forum like the Fabians that gets political ideas out into the public domain more important than ever.

Why set up a blog then? The outgoing General Secretary of the British Fabian Society, Sunder Katwala, recently wrote a post entitled "Why Blogging Matters," for the Fabians' Next Left blog. In his post, he encapsulated the reason for this blog. He wrote:

There are many important political issues which are not going to grab national newspaper headlines. The internal cultures of our political parties, which were a response to the media environment of the 1990s, will need to change. Their first instinct is rarely to open up debates to their own members and supporters. But the civic culture of our parties is already changing for the better, not because of decisions taken at the top, but because of the commitment to engagement and debate of political blogs.

The purpose of this blog is to help foster that engagement by being a forum for the debate of ideas. Genuine debate and fresh thinking by young progressives is needed more than ever. As Young Fabians, we hope that this blog can help play a role in renewing progressive thinking and look forward to many lively debates.


Anyone who would like to contribute to the Young Fabians blog, whether a member or not, should get in touch via ausyoungfabians@gmail.com

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Posted in: australia,blogging,debate,fabians,political ideas,politics,progressive,public policy,young fabians