Opinion & Commentary

Opinion and Commentary contains media articles written by CIS researchers.
Categories
Tighten the rules on welfare payments
There is more to welfare reform than amalgamating the benefits. Read More
Child protection: generation lost by not being 'stolen'
It is incredibly simplistic and misleading to blame the serious problems many troubled children experience on the decision to take them into care. 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
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
Brits recoil from teaching respect for authority at home or school
Following last week's riots in Britain, politicians and commentators have similarly been asking the wrong question. What caused thousands of (mainly) young males to torch buildings where they live, loot... Read More
A confident secularist society would tolerate school religion
A confident secular society, one that trusted in its rationalist public institutions, should have no problem with occasional church-run classes. Read More
Beware pink totalitarianism
Gay marriage dissenters deserve the same respect as advocates 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
Beer and a fag? Forget it: matron is watching you
There is a new type of paternalism behind the latest taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, says Luke Malpass in Spectator Australia, 7 May 2010 Read More
Look to punks, not drunks, for good laws
Melbourne’s reputation as gloomsville and the puritanical capital of Australia has been enhanced recently by the Victorian government’s miscalculated attempts to curb binge drinking-fuelled street... Read More
Nanny state can’t save us from ourselves
Is it ever appropriate for the government to legislate to protect us from ourselves? Read More

