Philosophy

29 June 2023

The political program of small government, more choice and more personal responsibility is not appealing to voters after years of COVID and in economic tough times. Apparently, according to the media, pollsters and more than a few Liberal MPs, the Liberal Party has a problem with “young people” and “women” as these key groups vote for it in ever-decreasing numbers. As a

27 September 2018

In 2017, following the wishes of the late Paul Ramsay, a businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune in the healthcare industry, the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation was set up in Australia.  Paul Ramsay was deeply concerned that Australians are not being taught about Western Civilisation either at school or university. So he left part of his $3.4 billion

19 August 2017

Recently I attended the Centre for Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher Conference on Security 2017 at the august Guildhall in the heart of the City of London. The theme of the day was threats to the West – including tensions with Russia and China, terrorism, as well as emerging issues like bio-warfare and cyber-warfare. The keynote address came from Henry Kissinger, at the

30 March 2017

“The Coalition government must take its commitment to reform section 18C to the next election,” said Simon Breheny, director of policy at the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. The Coalition government’s Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 today failed to pass the senate in full, with Australian Labor Party, Australian Greens, Nick Xenophon Team and Jacquie

24 March 2017

We might soon be approaching the end of the beginning of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership. A harsh critic of his government might argue that since the federal election in July last year the government has meandered through policy and lacked a clear definition of its purpose. If the leader doesn’t know, or doesn’t explain what they stand for, voters can’t

24 February 2017

Dear Committee, At the Sydney public hearings on the Select Committee on Red Tape on 24 February 2017, Senator Dastyari asked me to take on notice a “large ideological question”: “do we want socialism in one country or perpetual revolution?” I am glad to supply an answer to this question. Download the full response here

16 December 2016

In Reflections on the Revolution in France published in 1790, Edmund Burke concluded that “A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation”. That’s exactly what we learned in 2016. If the politicians won’t change the system, voters will change the politicians. The phenomena of Brexit and Donald Trump smashed the so-called political “centre”

5 December 2016

The NSW draft curriculum released last week glosses over thousands of years of western development and progress, in favour of teaching students about climate change in mathematics class. The NSW Board of Studies, slavishly following the National Curriculum, has adopted three so-called cross-curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and sustainability.

1 August 2016

To judge Roger Scruton by his demeanour and suitably tweedy appearance, it would be easy to assume he comes from a strand of British philosophy previously personified by the later versions of Michael Oakeshott; suspicious of Continental idealism and more generally, the practical claims of metaphysics and rationalism. But through his works we see he is supremely learned in the

15 June 2015

‘Our liberty, democracy, and human rights are all in some way related to what was inscribed on parchment at Runnymede in June 1215’ The Magna Carta is a founding document of individual liberty, rule of law, and parliamentary democracy.  In this accessible and engaging book, Chris Berg and John Roskam explain what the Magna Carta is, where it came from,