John Roskam’s message to the Coalition from last October that they should not confuse the concerns of inner city elites with those of mainstream Australia was vindicated on Saturday as this graphic of booth-level swings to the major parties demonstrates:
(Another way of putting it would be the further you live from an ABC studio in Sydney or Melbourne the less likely you are to vote Labor).
“The number one issue for Australians during this 2019 election campaign is climate change“, wrote The Guardian last week. Ouch. This simple graph of what Australians googled in the 30 days leading up to the election explains why the election was won and lost:
That’s from this excellent 9 min video by Jim Stewart who correctly predicted the election outcome by analysing the googling habits of Australians leading up to the election and on the day.
While we’re on The Guardian, they think they’ve been too neutral about climate change. Yep, really. Last week they issued a new style guide telling their journos to use “climate emergency” instead of “climate change” and “climate denier” instead of “climate sceptic” to “more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world”.
The IPA has a new ally in the quest to cut red tape! The Clean Energy Council thinks occupational licensing requirements for solar energy in Queensland are so dire the state “will not meet its 50% renewable energy target“. I’m sure that’s the only reason. They should check out Gideon Rozner’s May 2018 IPA Review piece on how licensing ” keeps Australians out of work“.
Despite the ALP’s election loss, the left still controls the bureaucracy – a Sunshine Coast lifesaver has been fined $650 by the local council for putting up a basketball ring in his street for kids to use after school.
The Looking Forward Podcast is going on the road! Join the Q&A with John Roskam, Scott Hargreaves, Dr Chris Berg, and Renee Gorman on ‘What does freedom look like in 2050?’ at the ALS Friedman Conference tomorrow. The panellists are looking forward to some great questions from the many young libertarians attending the conference.
If you’re in Perth on Friday 7 June head along to ‘Stonehouse LIVE: Australia & New Zealand – who wins on economic policy?’ featuring David Seymour (ACT New Zealand), Andrew Pickford (Mannkal) and Aaron Stonehouse (Liberal Democrats). Details and tickets here.
And the Samuel Griffith Society 2019 Conference is coming up in Melbourne from August 9 – 11. Details and tickets here.
Article of the week:
In Spiked this week Nick Cater said Saturday’s “Aussie revolt against social justice” proved Australia is “the best bloody country on earth“. Well said.
IPA Staff Pick:
Each week an IPA staff member shares what they have enjoyed recently. Today: Dr Bella d’Abrera
Recently I listened to this fascinating 57 min podcast with James Delingpole and Ben Cobley, author of The Tribe: The Liberal-Left and the System of Diversity . The premise of the book is that diversity operates like a machine which not only has rules but that dominates our state and society. Cobley is interesting because he is a former Labour Party activist and has thus both worked and engaged with many of today’s identitarians who push diversity.
Here’s what else the IPA said this week:
- John Roskam, The sun is setting on three decades of free market economics – The Australian Financial Review
- Dr Jennifer Marohasy, Robots recreating past temperatures – are best to avoid Australian data – IPA Today
- Daniel Wild, Australians reject radical change – The Bolt Report
- Daniel Wild, A win for mainstream values – Sky News Live
