About this site
Today there are simultaneous and momentous crises before which modern democracies individually and collectively appear impotent. These include global warming, ecological collapse, biodiversity loss, social injustice, wealth inequality and a dangerous geostrategic shift.
The focus of this site is the urgent need for governments and policy-makers, including in Australia, to respond to these complex, technical challenges.
The site’s original aims were:
- to canvas diverse views and showcase thinking, analysis and research from Europe and around the world, with the aim of contributing to policy debates in Australia; and
- to collect and publish Mike’s own articles, which have been published by a range of online publications, in one place.
Notwithstanding good intentions, the amount and type of content inevitably varies over time due to competing commitments.
About Mike Scrafton
Mike is a former Australian public servant, ministerial adviser and consultant.
In recent years, Mike has combined travelling in Europe, research and writing. His main interests are strategic policy, defence and national security, intelligence, public policy on climate change, and ethics and leadership in government and public service.
Mike’s career spanned three decades and included holding senior executive positions in government at the state and federal level.
For an eventful period in the early 2000s, often remembered for the “Children Overboard Affair“, Mike was Chief of Staff and Ministerial Advisor to successive Australian Ministers for Defence.
In recognition of Mike’s contribution to public administration in Australia, he is a Victorian Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia.
Mike has degrees in History, Economics and Ethics, and studied policy and leadership at Harvard and Oxford.