Pacific Island community and government leaders have long argued that increased access to the Australian and New Zealand labour markets, especially for unskilled workers, should be a central component of regional economic integration. Nic Maclellan and Peter Mares analyse the debate over remittances, migration and development.

A recent Audit workshop, centred around the draft of a forthcoming Audit Report by Joo-Cheong Tham and Sally Young, brought together Australian and international experts, electoral commissioners, former auditors-general and political party representatives. The draft Audit Report, workshop papers and further information are available online. The papers include: • Graeme Orr – Government Advertising: Informational...

Harry Evans, Clerk of the Senate, reviews the appropriations process as it relates to government spending on advertising. He suggests that appropriations are made for ends that are specified only in the vaguest terms. Consequently, little limit is applied to the purposes on which the money may be spent.

Malcolm Mackerras considers the best way to achieve the principle of ‘one vote one value’ in Australia and decides that it can only be achieved for the Territories by using the number of voters on the roll rather than population as the basis for distribution. This would give the ACT back its third seat and...

Kate Sullivan of the UK Electoral Commission reviews who can vote in the United Kingdom and finds that the franchise is much more expansive in Britain than in Australia.