Australia is governed by a representative democracy implemented via three tiers – federal, state and local levels.
Words in Winter Central Goldfields Inc has invited experts and the local community to consider and discuss global and Australian democratic trends and current issues that have tested democracy and the Fourth Estate – the role of the media in a democracy and what happens when there is no critical media to inform voters and local matters.
The special event will be held at the Maryborough Highland Society on Thursday October 3 and will be moderated by Castlemaine’s Bryn Davies – an experienced facilitator who has worked across a range of forums with community, government and business.
Since 2016, Bryn has led Democracy for Dinner, a Mount Alexander based platform for exploring policy issues and improving democracy. Bryn works to connect community to government and get people engaged in what council does and why it matters.
Panel members will include Chris Dickinson, Dr Dennis Muller and Janice Simpson PhD.
Chris Dickinson taught economics in secondary schools before working in various roles at the University of Ballarat. For the last seven years he has taught Geopolitics and Economics classes at U3A and spent a lot of time in the garden.
Dr Denis Muller is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne and author of several books, including Journalism and the Future of Democracy (2021) and Journalism Ethics for the Digital Age (2014).
He is a former assistant editor (Investigations) of The Sydney Morning Herald and associate editor of The Age. He writes regularly for The Conversation on media issues.
Janice Simpson PhD, taught politics and social economics at RMIT. She is an activist in promoting the development of a rail trail between Maryborough and Castlemaine.
The event at 35 High Street Maryborough begins at 5.30pm. Tickets are $5 and are available at the door or online via Humanitix at events.humanitix.com/has-democracy-like-elvis-left-the-building
