Chadlington

Hi Adam,

To me a massive barrier to progress in Australia is the public opinion/confusion that "times are tough" and that the government therefore needs to make sacrifices and cuts in order to stay above water. No new social programs can be started unless savings are found elsewhere. The government has cut funding to tertiary education, international aid and single parents, and I just don't see why that was necessary. The reality is that we actually have some of the lowest debt (by percentage of GNI) of any OECD country, and our economy, employment levels and general economic indicators are all pretty good. Is there any way you can see the Greens (or anyone else) being able to change this opinion so that the government is able to free up some more money to go into welfare, health and aid programs?

Thanks for doing this AMA and good luck in the election!

Hi again Adam, I have another question.

I am generally a Greens supporter but most of the time the Greens member put up in my electorate is very young and inexperienced and I therefore don't think they'd be the best person to elect. How do you reconcile the difference between voting for your specific representative and voting for the party you best think represents your views in the Australian electoral system?

Cheers

"Currently, we are raising less revenue as a % of GDP than under John Howard's government"

That's actually a frightening statistic.

Where can an average citizen find information like this? It's hard to find up-to-date information about how much the average Australian pays in tax, or what our national debt is, or the amount of revenue the government gets from different sources. It would be super handy to have more access to this information, especially with an election coming up and the inevitable debates with friends and family that brings. Anyone can answer this really.

Hi Scott,

To me a massive barrier to progress in Australia is the public opinion/confusion that "times are tough" and that the government therefore needs to make sacrifices and cuts in order to stay above water. No new social programs can be started unless savings are found elsewhere. The government has cut funding to tertiary education, international aid and single parents, and I just don't see why that was necessary.

The reality is that we actually have some of the lowest debt (by percentage of GNI) of any OECD country, and our economy, employment levels and general economic indicators are all pretty good.

Is there any way you can see the Greens (or anyone else) being able to change this opinion so that the government is able to free up some more money to go into welfare, health and aid programs?

Thanks for doing this AMA and good luck in the election!