Recent publications
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...
Shooting down the enemies of progress
Tony Gilland reviews An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming by Nigel Lawson (Overlook, 2008, 144 pages) & The Enemies of Progress: The Dangers of Sustainabilityby Austin Williams (Imprint, 2008, 156 pages) An Appeal to Reason:...
Building the social convenant around social diversity
Rick Brown reviews The Home We Build Together: Recreating Society by Jonathan Sacks (Continuum, 2007, 272 pages) At ‘the end of history there are no serious ideological competitors left to liberal democracy.' So said Francis Fukuyama in...
Superannuation and MacBank as the zenith of the Australian nation
Richard Allsop reviews Unfinished Business: Paul Keating's interrupted revolution by David Love (Scribe, 2008, 264 pages) According to David Love in his new book Unfinished Business: Paul Keating's interrupted revolution, Paul Keating and...
Class and casinos
Opposition to gambling and poker machines is a confused mixture of patronising‘compassion' and political rhetoric, writes Richard Allsop. Kevin Rudd hates them. Brendan Nelson has expressed deep concern about them. Bob Brown wants huge cuts...
The Hollowmen and the sport of satire
What does our television tell us about Australian democracy? Over time, spin becomes truth. In the ABC's new satire The Hollowmen, political advisors find that they can no longer tell the difference, even to themselves, between spin and the...
Is Facebook making our kids violent?
Moral panic is never too far away from the Australian media. The widespread claims that the internet is corrupting youth and encouraging violent behaviour completely misunderstands technology, the people who use it and the nature of crime itself....
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...
The intellectual gap goes to university
Following a campaign by the Australian Liberal Students Federation, a Senate committee is investigating the level of intellectual diversity at Australian universities. It is well-known that academia-and more often than not those who are university...