The announcement in the Prime Minister's New Year's Day message that the Government will launch the policy of the "National Conversation" will open a new level of public engagement and citizen participation in the affairs of state. How successful it will be can only be a function of the extent to which people are interested in taking part.
In her statement, the Prime Minister said that it "will be my Government's continuing progress report to you and it will be a two-way conversation that gives you, the people, the opportunity to direct us on where and how we must now proceed."
The Prime Minister has clearly decided that she cannot operate on the basis of views being expressed by a few people sitting in a room as the format for advancing policy objectives for her Government. The collective wisdom of citizen participation will provide her with the largest focus group that can be assembled in order to get feedback on areas of attention for the Government.
This is an initiative whose success will depend on how people embrace it. There have been many national consultations before and the record of participation has been a mixed bag of small and large audiences.
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