Recent publications
10 Worst Nanny State Policies
10: Plain packet cigarettes The argument for plain cigarette packaging is one of the most stark examples of how Nanny State regulations treat individuals as childish automatons. Plain packaging involves the complete removal of any brand logos,...
Gambling in a Free Society
Presentation to the RSL & Services Clubs National Conference 27 July, 2009 By Richard Allsop Gambling is a pastime that has brought pleasure to free citizens through most of recorded history. I say to free citizens because it is a striking...
Presentations from 'Managing Personal Behaviour, Risk and Responsibility'
Presentations from 'Managing Personal Behaviour, Risk and Responsibility', an IPA Symposium held in Melbourne on the 25 February, 2009.
Free to gamble: The roles of the gambling industry and policy in a modern Australian society
Submission to the Preventative Health Taskforce Discussion Paper
The National Preventative Health Taskforce's Discussion Paper: 1) downplays the positive role individual choices can play in the health sphere, 2) pays little attention to the rights of individuals to consume legal products of their...
Big fat beat up
Arnold Schwarzenegger is obese. He's been obese his entire adult life, including the seven times he won the Mr Olympia bodybuilding title. Despite obesity not impacting his own, clearly excellent, health, Governor Schwarzenegger has introduced...
Your child is a wuss
When Belgian Gardens, a Townsville state primary school, banned cartwheels and handstands in August, it ignited a media frenzy. But as bizarre as it is, the handstand ban is only one incidence of a widespread trend affecting all Australian...
Cops, not liquor regulations, reduce street violence
On one of its websites, the Queensland Government is remarkably honest about its attitude towards law-abiding businesses-‘the ability to trade is a privilege, not a right.' According to politicians and the press, late at night, Australian...
Nanny state is a poor guide to policy design
Living in a first world country, Australians are entitled to expect their governments to support the delivery of basic services and amenities-for a price. But now Australians are being told by state and federal governments that no matter the...
Building the Australian Nanny State
Free bibs Victorian Deputy Premier Rob Hulls has announced an additional $35,000 of funding for Auskick programs to provide bibs and waist bags to identify volunteers who had met working with children checks. V-chip for Australia The Senate...