Recent publications
Mark Webber right on Australian Nanny State
"Mark Webber was spot on calling Australia a nanny state. But it's set to get worse as local, state and federal governments plan to tax, regulate and ban away individual choice and responsibility on every aspect of our lives", Director of the IP...
From the Nanny State to the Bully State
During the course of this decade we will witness a global battle over the fate of the nascent Bully State. The Bully State will be this decade's ‘bad cop' to the Nanny State's ‘good cop' of past decades. The past generation of welfare...
Hypocrisy greets (another) closure of the Collingwood Tote
It was hard to miss the recent closure of an inner urban Melbourne pub. For days the media at both state and national level covered the story, and even The 7.30 Report devoted several minutes to it. This particular pub had a long-held reputation...
The GST is a massive fat tax
Many public health activists claim that a tax on fatty food is necessary to tackle obesity. The critics of this fat tax idea point to a number of studies revealing the limitations of such a scheme. A 2005 US study of a 10 per cent fat tax on dairy...
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...