27 July 2023
‘Woke-washing’ Has Real Consequences
It’s difficult to spot the difference between what Coutts did to the Brexit leader and what the Commonwealth Bank does to coal miners. What NatWest bank in the UK and its boss Alison Rose did to Nigel Farage has proved a headline from Time magazine a few years ago to be absolutely wrong. According to Time, “Cancel culture is not real – at least
6 October 2022
Thorburn’s Cancelling Shows Politics Is Now Football’s Main Game
This article was originally published in The Australian Financial Review on or about 6 October 2022 and was written by the author in their capacity as a contributor for that publication. It has been republished on the IPA website with permission. The views expressed are those of the author alone. The AFL prides itself on being a cultural and workplace leader – and
30 March 2022
We Must Protect The Australian Way Of Life
The damage done to the American psyche through unrelenting attacks on its core values. For Australia, it is a cautionary tale. Our way of life has faced some serious challenges over the past year. For a long time, for many of us, it changed. And so this discussion is as pertinent as it is important. I suppose you must start
17 March 2022
Kitching Wasn’t Just Bullied – She Was A Victim Of Cancel Culture
The treatment meted out to Kimberley Kitching by some of her Labor “colleagues” was on any definition bullying, nasty and completely unfair. But that’s politics – politics, like life, is unfair. But certainly, what happened to Kitching Kimberley Kitching at a Senate estimates hearing in 2019. Alex Ellinghausen was particularly vicious and the labelling of some of the perpetrators of
6 March 2021
Cultural Cleansing
Those of us who would normally undertake a yearly pilgrimage to Europe for a much-needed injection of Old World culture, but who find ourselves imprisoned here by our own government, can be cheered by some uplifting news from the National Gallery of Canberra. Between 5 March and 14 June, a selection of the National Gallery of London’s finest masterpieces will
24 February 2021
Craig Kelly: Cancel Culture Has Now Come To The Government’s Backbenches
That Craig Kelly does not believe he can speak “frankly” and “fearlessly” on important public policy matters such as the government’s health response to the coronavirus from the government benches should concern everyone who values freedom and democracy. Rather than defending liberal democratic values such as freedom of speech and open debate, Morrison saw advantage in telling Parliament earlier this month that
19 January 2021
Invasion Day Parade Going Ahead Despite Australia Day Events Being Cancelled Is Pure Hypocrisy
This year, Daniel Andrews isn’t just trying to change the date of Australia Day; he’s cancelling it altogether. Without consulting the community, and under the cover of COVID-19, the Premier has decided the Australia Day parade, which brings all Australians together, will be cancelled indefinitely. Yet, in June last year, he allowed thousands of protesters to march through the streets
22 December 2020
Wishing “Happy Holidays” Part Of A Weird Controlling Desire
You may have noticed in the days leading up to Christmas that many businesses are now wishing you a very politically correct ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas.’ This import from the USA has become ubiquitous, and is emblazoned all over our banks, supermarkets and even our Christmas cards. “Happy Holidays” is both meaningless and completely out of touch with
18 July 2020
Vision Of Justice
‘Justice is the end [goal] of government. It is the end of civil society,’ argued James Madison, one of the Founding Fathers and the fourth president of the United States, in the Federalist No. 51. Writing in the year that the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney, Madison understood that citizens need to believe in the fundamental justness of a
30 June 2020
Memo AFL: Do You Play Footy – Or Politics?
Australia is not a racist country and the Australian Football League should know better than to give its support to a movement that says that it is. Before round two kicked off on 11 June, players from Collingwood and Richmond announced they would “take a knee” in support of Black Lives Matter, the international protest movement which claims to oppose police violence against black people. By the end of the round, all players at every match had
