Chris Berg

Adjunct Fellow

Chris Berg was a fellow and policy director with the Institute of Public Affairs between 2004 and 2017. He was an adjunct fellow with the Institute of Public Affairs between 2017 and 2020.
Visit his website at chrisberg.org

The Looking Forward Podcast Episode 93: Endgame
17 December 2020

The Looking Forward Podcast Episode 93: Endgame

After two years on air that’s a wrap for the IPA’s Looking Forward Podcast, as least as a weekly panel show. The biggest issues over the journey have been Trump and the populist insurrection on the centre-right, and of course coronavirus and how populations and Governments have responded. Co-hosts Scott Hargreaves and Chris Berg reflect on what they said and
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The Looking Forward Podcast Episode 92: Thanks Ron, Great Party!
10 December 2020

The Looking Forward Podcast Episode 92: Thanks Ron, Great Party!

Will history’s verdict be that Trump trashed the legacy of Reagan – as some of his supporters delightedly claim – or that there are stronger continuities between the two, sharing records of lower taxes, regulatory reform and a strong military, all built on votes from mainstream Americans. Where has the Trump insurrection left the Republican Party, and what are the
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The Looking Forward Podcast Episode 91: Mysterious Measures to Decolonise Museums
3 December 2020

The Looking Forward Podcast Episode 91: Mysterious Measures to Decolonise Museums

[trx_video url=”https://youtu.be/twbIGA1NfLs” ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”off” top=”inherit” bottom=”inherit” left=”inherit” right=”inherit”] All through the western world Museum Directors have set themselves the task of “decolonising” their collections and exhibits, but what could this become and what does it mean anyway? Do they know, or are they just going woke to protect their own jobs? Is it about appropriately recognising indigenous cultures, or something
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The Looking Forward Episode 90: The Reckoning of Our Afghan War
26 November 2020

The Looking Forward Episode 90: The Reckoning of Our Afghan War

The allegations of serious war crimes by Australian special forces contained within the Brereton Inquiry report mean some change is necessary even as justice takes its course. But should Parliamentarians involve themselves more in Defence and military oversight, as Andrew Hastie MP suggests, or could this politicise the military and cast it into the culture wars? Could adverse findings about
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Looking Forward Episode 89: Brutal Lockdowns Redux: SA Cut
19 November 2020

Looking Forward Episode 89: Brutal Lockdowns Redux: SA Cut

Now it’s South Australia’s turn for lockdown hell for at least six days, and Daniel Wild joins the panel live from Adelaide to report on the chaotic decision making behind the Government’s draconian measures. Apparently the coronavirus spread by failure in Hotel Quarantine – who would have expected THAT! Seriously, are our Governments incapable of learning and preparing, and delivering
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Looking Forward Episode 88: Just Another High Vis Election
12 November 2020

Looking Forward Episode 88: Just Another High Vis Election

It’s a global High Vis vest frenzy, because whether or not he’s President going forward the global legacy of Trump is a realignment of politics, with heartland conservatives switched on and centre-right parties around the world looking for blue collar voters. To what extent can this be said about Australia and can it explain what’s happened this week in the
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Looking Forward Episode 87: Trumpism in a Post Trump Era
5 November 2020

Looking Forward Episode 87: Trumpism in a Post Trump Era

There’s some grieving from Gideon on the Podcast as indications are that Joe Biden will be sworn in as President, though his fabled ‘blue wave’ failed to eventuate. Trump confounded the polls and energised a mass base of Americans in a way that suggests his political legacy will live on. Is this at the expense of the right’s traditional free
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Looking Forward Episode 86: Australia’s Coronavirus Endgame
29 October 2020

Looking Forward Episode 86: Australia’s Coronavirus Endgame

Scott Morrison’s mid-year plan for a COVIDSafe economy is back on track having been derailed by Victorian bungling, but with vaccines uncertain and international borders closed, what is the outlook for Australia’s coronavirus Endgame?  Can services like education and tourism ever rejoin king coal and iron ore as the foundations of our prosperity, at least any time soon? Why would
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Looking Forward Episode 84: The Belated Collapse of Lockdown’s Justifications
14 October 2020

Looking Forward Episode 84: The Belated Collapse of Lockdown’s Justifications

We may look back on this as the week when the global wave of coronavirus lockdown hysteria recedes, as more sensible voices and experts come to the fore, including a key WHO adviser condemning the use of lockdowns as a primary means of control for the coronavirus. The historic Great Barrington Declaration led by Professor Sunetra Gupta (Oxford) and Jay
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Looking Forward Episode 83: Trump’s COVID: Halo or Catastrophe?
7 October 2020

Looking Forward Episode 83: Trump’s COVID: Halo or Catastrophe?

Trump has tested positive for COVID-19 less than one month before the US election. What will this mean for the politics surrounding the upcoming election and could this revelation play for or against Trump’s faltering campaign? (1:59-21:45) Trump has also received a kind of ‘cocktail’ of medication in response to contracting the virus, not all of which is available to
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