Question

Develop a proposal for a (hypothetical) new Australian government program to address a social/economic issue.

The proposal must include the elements listed in the table below. You may pick any level of government, and any topic area of interest to you (e.g. health, education, transport, crime prevention, environment etc).

Essential elements

The social/economic issue - Clear articulation of the social/ economic issue to be tackled, Evidence of appropriate research (100 words)

The proposed program - Clear description of the proposed program, Relevance to the social/economic issue (100 words)

Economic rationale - Justification of government intervention, Application of economic concepts (100 words)

Please link any sources/research papers you use. Thank you so much.  

Answer 1

CLIMATE CHANGE

The recent wildfires that happened the country rattled not just this country but the entire world, and brought up the prominent issue that has been widely discussed but poorly implemented in the world - climate change. Thousands of animal and plant species had to suffer the effect of human actions. Wildfires are a disaster that have to be controlled, and adequate steps have to be taken for the same. Fighting the wildfires is an extremely strategic task which needs appropriate funding from all segments of the society. Hence, it is of extreme importance that there is a well laid out plan whose implementation had to start as early as possible so that before the next season, the state has enough funds to fight with and enough resources with which to do so.

The program that is proposed here is a three-point programme to help prepare, and fight the next season of wildfires.

The outline of the proposed programme can be as follows -

1. Research: A well-funded research wing has to be estabished that studies the trend and the exact cause of these wildfires. This wing should be devoted to analysing the nature and the cause of the wildfires, subject not only to the natural causes but also the human actions that might have aggrevated the issue. This included pollution of various forms that causes ground water to dry up, exploitation of resources and the inadequate methods to curb the impacts of human actions causing global warming.
2. Planning: A clear cut plan has to be put into place based on the research that the reseach wing comes up with. This plan should include steps to reduce the impact of human actions that cause global warming, it should also help plan the exact modus operandi for fighting the wildfires as and when they arise. This should include a clear idea of how many personnel are required, what equipment is required and how much funding should be required to establish the same.
3. Funding: Given the amount of funding that will required, it is necessary to raise this from the public. Increasing taxes beyond a certain limit will not be feasible for the economy as that will reduce the aggregate demand more, and hence a carefully structured plan of action is required to be able to raise the funds carefully and over a period of time so as not to have other undesired impacts on the economy.

This is an issue that causes a loss of hundreds and thousands of dollars every year and if there is a way that the damage caused can be reduced, then it is worth the planning. This requires government intervention because this is not an issue that the public left to themselves would not be able to find an optimum solution to the same.