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Simon Breheny

Director of Policy

Level 2, 410 Collins St, Melbourne 3000 VIC

Simon Breheny is Director of Policy at the Institute of Public Affairs.

Simon has been published in the Australian, the Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun, the Canberra Times, the Sunday Tasmanian, the Guardian and the Punch. He is regularly interviewed on radio around the country in relation to legal rights and freedom of speech, and has appeared on ABC1's Q&A, 7.30 and Lateline, ABC News 24, Channel Ten’s The Project, Channel 7's Weekend Sunrise and Sky News' The Nation, AM Agenda, Lunchtime Agenda and PM Agenda. Simon is also a regular contributor on ABC’s News Breakfast.

Simon has also appeared as a witness to give expert evidence before the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications, Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee and the NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Law and Justice.

Simon grew up in central Victoria and attended Catholic College Bendigo before moving to Melbourne to study a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne. While completing his studies, Simon was elected President of the Melbourne University Law Students' Society and appointed Vice-President of the Victorian Council of Law Students' Societies.

Areas of expertise: legal rights, rule of law, legal history and philosophy, freedom of speech, liberal democracy, property rights, privacy, nanny state and regulatory agencies.

RELATED NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

IPA TODAY

Evidence Based Policy Research Project

Simon Breheny and Matthew Lesh 5 October 2018 Ipa today, Publications,

The Evidence Based Policy Research Project commissioned free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, and progressive think tank Per Capita Australia, to analyse 20 public policies using...

Government Services

To Yield And Not To Strive

Simon Breheny Started 1 October 2018 Government services,

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised ‘a thoroughly Liberal Government’ … but instead it was a thorough disappointment, argues Simon Breheny. In the years and decades to come, it is hard to...

PUBLICATIONS

Universities Have A Duty To Protect Free Speech

Simon Breheny and Matthew Lesh 28 September 2018 Education and skills, Ideas and liberty,

Australia’s universities are public institutions with a corresponding legal responsibility to uphold free expression. This point was made by former High Court chief justice Robert French last week...

Originally appeared in The Australian

PUBLICATIONS

Finally, Parliament Can Act On Restoring The Right To Free Speech

Simon Breheny 20 July 2018 Constitution and law, Freedom of speech,

There is no right not to be offended. Yet dozens of provisions on the commonwealth statute books make it unlawful or illegal to offend. There is a right to freedom of speech, and each of these...

Originally appeared in The Australian

PUBLICATIONS

Time To Axe Destructive Anti-Discrimination Laws

Simon Breheny 12 July 2018 Freedom of speech, Ideas and liberty,

The recent case of a Sydney barber demonstrates the pressing need to dismantle the growing anti-discrimination regime that threatens our livelihood and our freedom. The barber at the heart of this...

Originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph

PUBLICATIONS

How To Cut Red Tape And Save Billions Lost On Regulation

Simon Breheny 8 June 2018 In the news, Ipa today,

After years of government red tape reduction programs that have failed to halt the explosion of regulation, it’s time for a radical new approach. Here are five principles the government should...

Originally appeared in The Australian

FIVE IDEAS TO FIX AUSTRALIA

Simon Breheny, Matthew Lesh, Daniel Wild, Morgan Begg and Gideon Rozner Started 10 May 2018 Constitution and law, Dignity of work,

This article first appeared in the May 2018 edition of the IPA Review. PDF available here. A recent university study found that public satisfaction with our democratic processes and public trust...

IPA TV

The IPA Reacts to the Federal Budget

Simon Breheny and Daniel Wild 8 May 2018 Finance and economics, Ipa today,

The IPA’s Simon Breheny and Daniel Wild dissect the 2018 Federal Budget and talk about why they are so disappointed.

PUBLICATIONS

Scott Morrison Must Show He Has Real Courage

Simon Breheny 8 May 2018 Finance and economics, In the news,

When a politician promises to give you something in 10 years, you can bet it’ll never happen. Promised tax cuts in Tuesday night’s Budget won’t match expectations, and a Coalition government —...

Originally appeared in Herald Sun

In The News

Senate Inquiry into Business Council commitments

Simon Breheny and Daniel Wild 24 April 2018 Finance and economics, In the news,

IPA Director of Policy, Simon Breheny, and Research Fellow, Daniel Wild, today appeared before the Senate Economics Committee inquiry into the commitments made by the Business Council of Australia...

Submissions

Inquiry into the ‘Commitment to the Senate’ issued by the Business Council of Australia

Simon Breheny and Daniel Wild 24 April 2018 Finance and economics, Ipa today,

Below is an extract from the IPAs submission to the Senate Economics References Committee This Senate Inquiry is highly questionable. It refers to an undertaking made by private companies in...

In The News

Judges Who Want To Politicise The Bench Should Run For Office

Simon Breheny 16 March 2018 In the news, Ipa today,

Serving judges have no business inserting themselves into contemporary political debates. If they simply can’t help themselves they should leave the bench, and, if they truly want to pursue their...

Originally appeared in The Australian

Simon Breheny

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