Australian Fabian Society : Young Writers Competition

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

What is your bright idea for Australia? The Young Writers Competition is a competition open to 18-30 year old Australians who have progressive and practical solutions to the big issues facing Australia today and can communicate that idea in a 700–1000 word opinion piece. We had a range of fantastic entries for the 2012 competition which showed the breadth of young progressive thinking in Australia across a range of topics from addressing nuclear proliferation to alleviating elderly poverty to the case for a financial transaction tax. After much deliberation by our esteemed judging panel, we are proud to announce the winner of the Australian Fabians Young Writers Competition for 2012. The 2012 winner is Cameron Nolan for his entry Cutting the Gordian Knot on phasing out the sale of tobacco in Australia. Cameron will receive the winners prize of $1,000 and have his opinion piece considered for publication by Fairfax Media. His winning entry and all the other shortlisted entries are now available to read here. Thanks again to our judging panel and to all our entrants. We were impressed by the quality of submissions and encourage everyone to continue writing and to submit their policy ideas in our future competitions. We hope to see you in 2013 with a bigger and better Young Writers Competition. Latest Entries A Donations Registry: A Giving Pledge for all of us 30-Apr-2012 Tags: Charity, Redistributive Economics, Social Policy, Aid An opt-out registry of donations would help to create a culture of conspicuous giving. This would increase total donations and encourage discussion about effective giving. Reading the entrails. 30-Apr-2012 Tags: Economics, Social Democracy, Human Rights How should a progressive government realise the potential of human rights in Australia? Cutting The Gordian Knot: Phasing out the Sale of Cigarettes in Australia 30-Apr-2012 Tags: Gordian Knot, Tobacco, Cigarettes The Government could mandate that cigarettes can only be sold to a person who is over 18 years of age and was born before the year 2000. This would gradually phase-out cigarettes in Australia by forever prohibiting their sale to the next generation − those who are currently 12 years old or younger. On The Marriage Act 1961 and Separation of Church and State 23-Apr-2012 Tags: equality, marriage equality, religion, separation of church and state, marriage A proposal for 'civil unions' to take the place of 'marriages' in Australian law in order to free the Government from regulating religious observance, and to remove discrimination against same-sex couples. A Policy to Save Lives: Costing Nothing to Give, But Meaning Everything To Receive 22-Apr-2012 Tags: health, medicine, progressive Australia, transplant, organ donation Organ donation in Australia is an issue which needs progressive change. As a double lung transplant recipient, I was lucky to receive a second chance with the gift of life, but there are many others who have not been as fortunate for me. It is for them - those waiting on the transplant list, that we must reform the organ donation system to maxmise donation rates and save lives.