Vision and Strategy statement

 

Vision for the Australian capital statement

Australia is a progressive nation with an ever evolving landscape and society. The issues confronting Australia now and into the future are many and complex. In order to address these issues wisely, input from all Australians will be essential. Our position is that only a strategy with a high degree of flexibility will be able to achieve this. 

The parliament utilises committees as a forum for elected representatives, interest groups and the general public to discuss and debate the issues neglected by the House of Representatives and the Senate. However current committee facilities are largely under resourced and are failing to meet the general public’s growing demand for interaction and transparency of policy, law making and accountability. 

Therefore it is our proposal to put in place a flexible committee facility that will assume significant new power and become central to Australia’s political system. The new facility will be controlled by a nerve centre which will process public opinion and control the expansion and contraction of resources required at Parliament House to effectively deal with the issues important to Australians.

Expansion of the current infrastructure, not only at Parliament House but also in the households of the public will be required to support this strategy.  At home the general public will be given access to the committee nerve centre through an online forum where problems or issues may be raised.  Similarly, access will also be available at Parliament House via WI-FI connections and live streaming of committee proceedings on audio/ visual media resources. A dedicated transportation system will be implemented to enable better access to parliament for members of society to physically participate in discussions.  Expansion of the existing committee infrastructure of seating in public galleries, data centres/ IT support, power sources and the committee member facilities will need to be completed. 

The new committee facilities and infrastructure supporting them will bring about a recognisable change in presence and identity for the Australian capital. The new significance of the committee system and its focus on public interaction will be expressed through its architectural fabric. The organic theme of the original design for Canberra will be integrated with the modifications proposed.   The new architectural entity will incorporate a flexible LED light facade treatment to articulate the various events and discussions that will occur in this flexible facility into the future.