People & associates
Chris Berg
The war on democracy
In 1953 a bitter Bertolt Brecht wrote, 'Would it not be easier / In that case for the government / To dissolve the people / And elect another?' With these lines, Brecht brilliantly captured the dripping contempt that some purportedly 'democratic'...
IPA welcomes dumping of media laws
"The Gillard government's decision to abandon its proposal to regulate the media is a victory for freedom of speech in Australia," said Chris Berg, director of policy at free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. "The media regulation...
Gillard backdown on anti-discrimination laws a victory for free speech
The Institute of Public Affairs, the organisation that led the public campaign against the Gillard government's proposed changes to anti-discrimination laws, said today that the decision to withdraw the legislation was a victory for freedom of...
Conroy media regulation is government licensing in all but name
"Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's proposals for media regulation are a de facto licensing scheme for the print media and a fundamental threat to freedom of the press," said Chris Berg, Research Fellow with the free market think tank the...
Government will spend nearly 60 million this year lobbying itself for nanny state policies
The Commonwealth government will this year give $57.7 million of taxpayers' money to the Australian National Preventive Health Agency to lobby the government for Nanny State policies, according to a new paper by the free market think tank the...
The Biggest Vested Interest of All: How Government Lobbies to Restrict Individual Rights and Freedom
The Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan wrote in The Monthly in March 2012 that: Australia's fair go is today under threat from a new source. To be blunt, the rising power of vested interests is undermining our equality and threatening our democracy. But...
Consumer first supermarket reform: The market, not government, knows how to best meet consumer demand
Consumer first supermarket reform: The market, not government, knows how to best meet consumer demand
Submission to Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on Exposure Draft of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012
Submission to Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on Exposure Draft of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012
25 more ideas for Tony Abbott
Following on from our 75 ideas in the last edition, John Roskam, James Paterson and Chris Berg offer 25 more ideas to reshape Australia. 76 Have State Premiers appoint High Court justices 77 Allow ministers to be appointed...
Why capitalism is awesome
Each year the glossy business magazine FastCompany releases a list of what it considers to be the ‘World's 50 most innovative companies'. This list is populated much as you would expect. In 2012, the leader is Apple, followed by Facebook,...