Australians still expect government to solve big problems and provide universal services, and evidence suggests they will pay more tax if it is fair and well spent.

The Centre for Policy Development has produced a well-researched document – Purpose of government pulse: Australian attitudes towards government and democracy, based on surveys of people’s expectations of government, democracy and politics. They find that:

People are asking for a system that is honest, ambitious and capable of delivering. The challenges facing the country are vast and complex, but they provide a rare opportunity for governments to show they are up to the task and listening to what people need.

That may come across as a generic statement of people’s expectations, but in fact it asserts that we want capable governments, in contrast to a belief that people want “small government”, and in........

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