Selected pieces from the May 2008 IPA Review:

Richard Allsop: How the left made sport the new battlefield in the Culture Wars

Des Moore: Can government be restrained?

Tony Parkinson: Rudd's Asia hypocrisy

John Kunkel: Reflections on the 'Howard Project'

John Pyke: The Republic: Has Labor got the perfect wedge?

Editorials and Table of Contents

...and much more. The IPA Review is available for purchase from our Melbourne office, by subscription, and from selected newsagents.

New evidence of old concerns: Fair trade myths exposed ... Again
Sinclair Davidson and Tim Wilson

This paper outlines new evidence questioning the benefits of fair trade; and demonstrates that concerns about fair trade's environmental, social and economic benefits are not merely differing 'interpretations'.

Full paper | Press Release

Policy Network Group luncheon with guest speaker Gary Johns
Friday 9 May 2008

Gary Johns will speak at the next Policy Network Group Luncheon on Friday 9 May in the Treasury Room, L4, The Marque Hotel, 103 George St, Brisbane. Gary Johns, presently Policy Consultant with ACIL Tasman and former federal Special Minister of State will speak about "What Happens Now with Indigenous Policy after the Northern Territory Intervention". Anyone involved in policy making should attend. Cost is $25 including a light lunch.

If you would like to attend this function, you can register by clicking here.

Brisbane Club Lecture, 1 May 2008, delivered by Profesor Aynsley Kellow

The University of Queensland and the IPA have recently initiated a partnership to fund three Research PhD scholarships for the purpose of developing a program that supports evidence based, 'uncorrupted' environmental science, to assist with the development of good public policy.

Aynsley Kellow's speech was delivered at the launch of this program and is available for download here.
All in a good cause: Framing science for public policy.

The Growth of Australia's Regulatory State: Ideology, Accountability, and the Mega-Regulators
Chris Berg

Regulation is a political activity. It sets the framework for the market economy by denying the boundaries between private action and government action. Yet those boundaries are not fixed. Australian governments are growing the body of regulation -and the resources dedicated to regulating - at an ever increasing pace.

This growth in regulation has more than just economic consequences. It has significant political implications, as regulatory agencies are increasing their power and influence. Furthermore, those agencies are animated by a new regulatory ideology which favours interventionism and 'armtwisting', adding to the powers of regulatory agencies.

Full monograph