Adams, Carolyn --- "Pillars of Power: Australia's Institutions, by David Solomon" [2007] ALRCRefJl 18; (2007) 91 Australian Law Reform Commission Reform Journal 65

• Pillars of Power: Australia’s Institutions

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Pillars of Power: Australia’s Institutions

Pillars of Power is a concise and very readable survey of the major institutions that provide the framework for Australian society.

David Solomon—journalist, lawyer and author of a number of other books on Australian politics and law—examines the obvious contenders, including government and parliament; federalism and the states; the courts and the media; some slightly less obvious contenders including Australia’s economic regulators; the unions and universities; and one rank outsider, sport. The book is based on a series of articles that were published in the Brisbane Courier Mail in 2005.

Solomon does not consider these institutions in a static way—but examines how they have changed over time and the impact of this change. He notes, for example, significant power shifts between the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the Parliament, as well as between the Commonwealth and the States. He concludes that Parliament’s power to question and restrain ministers has been reduced, and that Prime Ministers have become increasingly presidential in the way they conduct themselves.

Of particular interest—given the recent federal election—is Solomon’s discussion of changes to Australia’s electoral system and public funding of election campaigns and advertising over the last twenty years. He quotes the results of a number of academic studies that show how such funding favours incumbent members of parliament, and particularly incumbent governments.

Much of the book is based on interviews with individuals closely involved with the institutions of power. Two Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke and Malcolm Fraser, and a number of departmental heads, past and present, comment on the changing nature of the federal public service. The weight of opinion seems to be that the public sector has become more responsive to the needs of the government of the day, but that such responsiveness has come at the cost of absolute frank and fearless advice. One significant change has been to remove permanency for departmental heads, making them more vulnerable to removal and therefore, the argument runs, less likely to advise government frankly.

Dr Peter Shergold, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, expresses the view, however, that the public service continues to provide robust policy advice to government in the public interest. In his view, “the most effective quality of advice is not that it is ‘fearless’ but that it is convincing”.

As might be expected, Solomon’s discussion of the media is of great interest. He marks the rise of participatory media—based on broadband access to the internet and mobile digital technology—and the shifting fortunes of free-to-air television and the newspapers. He discusses the concentration of media ownership in Australia and the Federal Government’s involvement in regulating the media and in driving defamation law reform. He reflects on the changing nature and role of journalism and emerging restrictions on the right of the public to be informed.

Whether or not sport can be considered a ‘pillar of power’ in Australia, the range of sports considered in detail is a bit disappointing from my personal, and a gender, perspective. Australian Rules football; rugby league; rugby union; soccer; cricket; golf; athletics; and racing all warrant detailed analysis. However, netball and tennis—despite falling within the top 10 sports in terms of participation in Australia—while mentioned in the text—are not considered in detail. Netball, in particular, has developed exponentially in Australia over the last twenty years and—given the success of the Australian national team and the extremely high participation rate of Australian women— would have made an interesting case study.

Solomon tracks the development of sporting professionalism in Australia, driven by increased involvement of the media in promoting and funding sport and the establishment of government sports institutes and academies, such as the Australian Institute of Sport. In this chapter, as in the rest of the book, we are given a fascinating bird’s eye view of the sporting landscape and how that landscape has been shaped by the modern world.

A great deal of careful research stands behind each chapter of Pillars of Power. The book includes comprehensive notes, bibliography and index. Solomon assimilates his background research with material from interviews with key players, to provide a convincing basis for his conclusions. He is ideally placed to provide an overview of the changes in, and shifts of power among, Australia’s institutions based on over forty years of observation and commentary. That experience and expertise is certainly reflected in the pages of Pillars of Power.

Carolyn Adams