IPA Today

Nothing reveals the clear divide between inner city and regional Queensland than the long, tumultuous history of land clearing. The Palaszczuk government’s now failed changes to native vegetation law is a perfect example of how out-of-control environmentalism can hold back Australia’s agriculture and, indeed, our economic development. The laws, which failed a vote in the Queensland Parliament last night, proposed

Celebrity physicist Brian Cox misled the ABC TV Q&A audience on at least 3 points-of-fact on Monday night. This is typical of the direction that much of science is taking. Richard Horton, the current editor of the medical journal, The Lancet, recently stated that, “The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be

The Palaszczuk government’s proposed changes to native vegetation laws demonstrate how Australia’s economic growth and prosperity is being held back by red tape. Changes to native vegetation laws introduced by the Newman government in 2013 encouraged agricultural production by allowing land clearing on private property according to requirements outlined in self assessable codes. These codes specify in great detail how

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, the politician, the socialistic reformer. Only by statistics can they know, or at least have any idea about, what is going on in the economy … How could the government impose

The National Gallery of Victoria’s exhibition Degas: A New Vision, is the most comprehensive collection of the works by the French painter and sculptor, Edgar Degas(1834-1917) since 1988. There are some wonderful individual pieces to inspect in this brilliantly curated exhibition and I urge you to see before it ends on September 18th. And as you learn more about Degas,

More and more it seems that the place and importance of the individual is taking a backseat in Western societies. Symptoms of this include political discourse which regards the desire to keep and enjoy the fruits of your own labour as greedy, and which pushes higher taxes as people paying their fair share. Or when laws are enacted to restrict

What is it? The emissions trading scheme, or ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme’, is a ‘cap and trade’ system. This requires firms to obtain a government ‘permit’ if they emit greenhouse gases. The government caps the level of emissions by restricting the number of permits available. The government plans to progressively reduce the pool of permits made available each year-intensifying the

A new poll conducted exclusively for the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs shows Australians hold overwhelmingly patriotic views. The poll was featured in the Herald Sun this morning. “Australia is a great country – and Australians agree. They are proud to be Australian, proud of our past and love celebrating Australia Day,” says James Paterson, Deputy Executive Director

The UN ratified its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a month ago. $US2.5 trillion of foreign aid spending between 2015 and 2030 will be devoted to achieving them. UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon says they are a plan “for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind”. He is wrong. The SDGs are inefficient, driven by politics

2015 will be a year of important historical anniversaries. First, Anzac Day next year will mark exactly 100 years since the landing at Gallipoli. The First World War featured in theNovember edition of Horizons last year, and here is a piece that IPA executive director John Roskam wrote about the significance of Anzac Day and Gallipoli from 2007. Second, according to tradition, 15 June