Encouraging more inclusive citizen engagement through deliberative democracy processes is not a new idea.
In fact, former prime minister Julia Gillard in 2010 proposed conducting a citizens’ assembly of randomly selected everyday Australians to deal with the polarisation in climate change policy.
Now, a new grassroots project aims to encourage Australian citizens from diverse backgrounds to contribute to policy solutions, with the help of experts, and tackle the big issues that matter to them.
Entrepreneur and investor Paul Bassat is the founder and chair of Amplify, a nonprofit that is independent of any political party.
He spoke to Biwa Kwan about why he believes it's needed right now.
