Opinion & Commentary
Opinion and Commentary contains media articles written by CIS researchers.
Categories
Masses rapt in hippy values
Christmas in Australia is drifting from tradition. Read More
Finkelstein would take us back before 1695
The beginnings of freedom of the press can be traced back to the lapsing of the Licensing Act in England in 1695. This meant publishers did not require that their publications be licensed by the government... Read More
Religious freedom must not be taken for granted
The importance of religious belief is both derided and attacked in our public debates. Tony Abbott's Christian faith is often used as a stick with which to poke, if not beat, the Opposition Leader Read More
Should poker machine gambling be restricted?
Reforms to make people pre commit the amount of money they are going to play on the pokies. Read More
Does gay marriage prove marriage matters?
Gay couples dragging marriage back into vogue. Read More
Don’t gamble with people’s freedom
New Poker Machine laws are impeding people’s freedom Read More
When Prophecy Fails: The Spirit Level and the Illusion of Scientific Socialism
When Prophecy Fails: Arguments about redistribution are moral, not scientific ones, and this book does nothing to change that. Don’t let any academic tell you otherwise. Read More
Greens boycott is anti-Semitic
Recently the Greens have refused to back a motion in the Senate condemning efforts by protesters from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to bar would-be customers from entering... Read More
If only phone hacking were the real scandal
For all the tankers of ink that have been spilt analysing Rupert Murdoch’s recent travails, nobody has seen fit to mention the dark irony at the heart of the phone-hacking scandal. Which is that the... Read More
Living together demands civility
We should not rush to stifle public discussions on the off chance that an unhinged individual (whether politically motivated or not) misconstrues them as a clarion call to violence. Nor should the far-right... Read More
Beware pink totalitarianism
Gay marriage dissenters deserve the same respect as advocates Read More
Petty name-calling just adds to polarisation
Increasing polarisation emerges in the aftermath of Larissa Behrendt’s tweet on Bess Price’s support of the NTI. Read More
Getting the nanny state out of alcohol retail
To Australian regulators, beer, wine and spirits seem to be in the same danger category as guns and porn – and thus have to be hidden from the public's view in specialised stores. Read More
Should we have an absolute freedom of speech?
So it is easy to be for free speech in principle. It is far less obvious what this will mean in practice. Read More
Why world must take interest in our boom
Discussion of Hayek's ideas and the Austrian school of economics have had a lot of attention recently and this week Sydney is hosting this year's general meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, founded by... Read More
Questioning leaders after crisis
Precisely what government is meant to do should be up for discussion right now. Read More
Learning about Hayek the hard way
The Prime Minister should have listened to his least favourite economist, Friedrich Hayek. Read More
Australian libertarians revealed
It seems left-wing economic journalist Ross Gittins has just discovered the word ‘libertarian,’ and the revelation seems to have him spooked. Read More
Publications
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TARGET30: Reducing the burden for future generations
| 01 Jul 2013 | Policy ForumTARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government and cutting government spending to less than 30% of GDP in the next 10... Read More...
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A Fair Go: Fact or Fiction?
| 09 May 2013 | Policy MonographsThe Australian ideal of a fair go is fact rather than fiction. By offering all individuals the opportunity to capitalise... Read More...
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In the Pay of the Piper: Governments, Not-for-Profits, and the Burden of Regulation
| 23 Apr 2013 | Issue AnalysisReforms intended to boost confidence in Australian charities risk turning the charitable sector into just another arm of... Read More...
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After the Welfare State: Politicians Stole Your Future … You Can Get It Back
| 08 Apr 2013 | Occasional PapersHistory, economics, sociology, political science, and mathematics are the tools to understand and evaluate welfare states,... Read More...
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Tax Welfare Churn and the Australian Welfare State
| 27 Mar 2013 | TARGET30 Research PapersThe welfare state currently consumes $316 billion a year; however, much of this spending is not targeted at those who need... Read More...
Opinion & Commentary
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Masses rapt in hippy values
| 22 Dec 2012 | The Canberra TimesChristmas in Australia is drifting from tradition.... Read More
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Finkelstein would take us back before 1695
| 16 Mar 2012 | The AustralianThe beginnings of freedom of the press can be traced back to the lapsing of the Licensing Act in England in 1695. This meant ... Read More
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Religious freedom must not be taken for granted
| 24 Feb 2012 | ABC OnlineThe importance of religious belief is both derided and attacked in our public debates. Tony Abbott's Christian faith is often ... Read More
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Should poker machine gambling be restricted?
| 01 Oct 2011 | Sydney Morning HeraldReforms to make people pre commit the amount of money they are going to play on the pokies.... Read More
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Does gay marriage prove marriage matters?
| 29 Sep 2011 | Online OpinionGay couples dragging marriage back into vogue.... Read More
Ideas@TheCentre
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The Snowden scandal is a hollow victory for Beijing
| 21 Jun 2013The moral malaise at the heart of Washington’s intelligence apparatus seems mild when compared to Beijing’s use of surveillance....
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The moral case for a smaller state
| 14 Jun 2013People need to be able to sort out their own problems, rather than having the state take this responsibility away from them....
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Why I work for a classical liberal think tank
| 10 May 2013At the core of classical liberalism is the unwavering belief that the best chance humanity has to prosper is when people ...
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Requiem for a reformer
| 19 Apr 2013Thatcher’s people – and protestors – turn up in the thousands to farewell a giant of the twentieth century....
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What is a fair share?
| 15 Mar 2013
