HomeJohn Roskam

John Roskam

Executive Director

John Roskam has been the Executive Director of the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs since 2005. Before joining the IPA he taught political theory at the University of Melbourne. He was previously the Executive Director of The Menzies Research Centre in Canberra, has been a senior adviser and chief of staff to federal and state education ministers, and was the manager of government and corporate affairs for a global mining company.

His publications include Australia's Education Choices (with Professor Brian Caldwell), 'Terrorism and Poverty' in Blaming Ourselves, 'Liberalism and Social Welfare' in Liberalism and the Australian Federation, and 'The Liberal Party and the Great Split' in The Split Fifty Years Later.

His fortnightly column appears in The Australian Financial Review. He is a member of the Editorial Board of The Australian Journal of Public Administration, and Connor Court Publishing, and the Advisory Board of The Centre for Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration, Australia in Victoria, and is an Honorary Fellow of Campion College.

The Process Is The Punishment For QUT Students

John Roskam 4 November 2016 Media releases, Publications,

“The Turnbull government cannot stick its head in the sand any longer on section 18C: the law must be repealed,” said John Roskam, Executive Director at free market think tank the...

Opinion

Malcolm Turnbull Must Ignore The Luvvies – He Leads A Centre-Right Party

John Roskam 21 October 2016 Ideas and liberty, Ipa today,

Tony Abbott is right. Australians are sick of the revolving door of prime ministers. As Abbott said on Wednesday, there’s not going to be a change in the Liberal leadership “any time...

The Turnbull Government Backs An Unprincipled Purpose Of Super

John Roskam 9 September 2016 Finance and economics, Opinion,

On Wednesday the Turnbull government released draft legislation to bring some of its superannuation promises into law. These changes are not the whole policy – we are told that some of the...

Opinion

The Turnbull Government’s Disgraceful Free Speech Fail

John Roskam 26 August 2016 Freedom of speech, Ideas and liberty,

The spectacle of Malcolm Turnbull arguing passionately for higher taxes on self-funded retirees while saying the reform of laws restricting freedom of speech in Australia was not a priority sits...

Opinion

ABS Census Farce Reminds Us Statistics Are The ‘Eyes Of The Bureaucrat’

John Roskam 12 August 2016 Faith and society, Government services,

In 1961, Murray Rothbard, the most important libertarian economist of the 20th century, wrote about the evils of government statistics. “Statistics are the eyes and ears of the bureaucrat...

Opinion

Malcolm Turnbull Is Set On Making Super Another ETS Moment For Himself

John Roskam 15 July 2016 Finance and economics, Opinion,

In 2009 as the leader of the opposition Malcolm Turnbull supported the introduction of an emissions trading scheme. He maintained his support for an ETS in the face of overwhelming opposition from...

Opinion

Populism Is Not A Dirty Word

John Roskam and Chris Berg 10 July 2016 Ideas and liberty, Opinion,

The political news right now is Malcolm Turnbull’s tenuous hold on government. But tight elections aren’t unusual. The real significance of the 2016 election is how it reveals the...

Uncategorized

In Memoriam Professor Robert M. Carter

John Roskam Started 1 April 2016 Uncategorized,

On 19 January 2016, Professor Bob Carter, Emeritus Fellow of the IPA passed away following a heart attack suffered the week before. He died peacefully in the company of his family. We have lost a...

Western Civilisation