IPA Review Articles

Something Very Fishy
18 August 2021

Something Very Fishy

When leaders pursue the politics of catastrophe, the cure becomes worse than the disease, writes IPA Research Fellow Morgan Begg in this review of Niall Ferguson’s new book. It seemed appropriate that just days before Dr Peter Ridd’s challenge for academic freedom was heard by the High Court a United Nations committee announced its intention to list the Great Barrier
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Send out the Clowns
21 October 2020

Send out the Clowns

This book review from the Winter 2020 edition of the IPA Review is written by IPA Research Fellow, Cian Hussey. According to a 2019 election study published by the Australian National University, only 25 per cent of Australians think our government can be trusted. While certainly a low figure, it becomes more alarming when compared to the 1969 result of
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Stand up for Yourself
6 October 2020

Stand up for Yourself

This article from the Winter 2020 edition of the IPA Review is written by IPA Research Fellow, Peter Gregory. One of Renee Gorman’s first acts as National Manager of Generation Liberty was to send members a sticker featuring the famous Ronald Reagan quote: “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted. It belongs to the brave.” Frenzied attacks are being carried
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Power for the People
6 October 2020

Power for the People

This article from the Winter 2020 edition of the IPA Review is written by IPA Research Fellow, Tristan Prasser. Filmmaking activist Michael Moore’s most recent documentary, Planet of the Humans, was released earlier this year to a storm of controversy and criticism. The film, directed by Jeff Gibbs and executive produced by Moore, takes aim at the green energy industry—predominately
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How They Shortened the Odds
13 August 2020

How They Shortened the Odds

This article from the Winter 2020 edition of the IPA Review is written by barrister, Stuart Wood. I have known Bill Shorten—distantly—half my life. We went to school and university in Melbourne at the same time and thereafter parallel careers in industrial relations. Mine at the Bar and his in the union movement. He was an obvious star: charming, confident,
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Death or Greatness
30 May 2019

Death or Greatness

This article by John Roskam first appeared in the April 2019 edition of the IPA Review. According to The Guardian there are more than 1,000 biographies of Churchill. There’s probably not much more that’s new about Churchill’s life that’s going to be discovered. In a world before Facebook and Instagram, Churchill lived as public a life as anyone ever has.
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Lest We Regret
30 May 2019

Lest We Regret

This article by David Cragg first appeared in the April 2019 edition of the IPA Review. David Cragg is a Life Member of the ALP, and a Trustee of the Victorian Trades Hall & Literary Institute. Anne Applebaum is probably the most renowned Sovietologist writing today. Bursting out of academia with the publication in 2003 of Gulag – A History,
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A Big Hand For God
9 May 2019

A Big Hand For God

Universality is a key tenet of Christianity which has led to human rights as we know it today, the abolition of slavery, the idea of the individual, feminism, equality before the law, and democratic secular politics. Christianity bequeathed us these great institutions of Western Civilisation. Christianity’s influence is overwhelmingly positive not only for those of faith, but also for those
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Measuring The Damage
9 May 2019

Measuring The Damage

The futility of attempting to measure the immeasurable is familiar to many government workers. Before coming to the IPA, I had a small role in a Victorian Education Department team implementing Gonski school reforms. The department developed school performance targets and a reforms package that would, among other things, help schools identify their strengths and weaknesses. To what extent would
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What a Wonderful World
1 December 2018

What a Wonderful World

Hans Rosling’s posthumous book Factfulness proves Louis Armstrong and Paul McCartney were right: it’s a wonderful world and getting better all the time, writes reformed pessimist Richard Conrad. The world is a much better place today than most of us realise and continues to improve every day. That’s a key message most readers will take away from Factfulness—a remarkable work
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