Lana Starkey

Research Assistant

Lana Starkey is a Research Assistant at the Institute of Public Affairs.

A writer with a wealth of experience in academe, Lana joined the IPA in 2023 amidst a crisis of freedom of speech on campus. Drawn to the IPA’s commitment to the Enlightenment values of open and honest debate and factually based research, Lana comes to the IPA with its emphasis on rigour and balance front of mind.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours in Philosophy from the University of Queensland and a deferred Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature. Her thesis Scepticism and the Essay as genre in seventeenth-century England is pending publication.

Lana has extensive experience lecturing and tutoring at universities and has presented papers at academic conferences in Australian, the UK, and Europe, winning various scholarships and awards including a grant from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions in Europe 1100-1800 and the ASCP Best Postgraduate Paper.

She has published in leading academic journals, literary magazines, and writes regularly for Quadrant, The Spectator Australia, and The Hungarian Conservative.

Fear And Loathing In Post-Covid Australia
25 April 2023

Fear And Loathing In Post-Covid Australia

Three years ago, I was approached at a pub in Brisbane by a television station reporting on the mask mandates to be put in place by our state premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk. I was asked what I thought of having to wear a mask and remain seated when at cafes, restaurants, and pubs. I said it was a laugh and that
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