Just concluding the weekend of 2/7, a “National Citizens’ Parliament” took place in Australia’s Old Parliament House in the nation’s capital, Canberra. A statistically and geographically representative sample of 150 Australians participated in a series of small and plenary group discussions about political reform in the country.
Sponsored by a grant from the Australian Research Council and an NGO called new Democracy, the deliberations took place over 4 days. The results from the weekend’s discussions were presented the Australian Parliament, but it remains to be seen how they might be incorporated.
More information on the gathering can be found on the official website:
http://www.citizensparliament.org.au/