Posted: 11:06 am on 19th April 2012
Joe Hockey’s comments on Lateline criticising the growth of the entitlement culture in Australia are correct. In this country, we are basically 20 years and one mining boom behind the dire situation in the European social democracies. The costs of an ageing population will add to the tax burdens future generations face unless we start to re-prioritise public spending and rediscover the lost ethic of self-reliance. But before getting too…
Posted: 8:00 am on 14th March 2012
I am in favour of legalising gay marriage. This is my personal view, not the corporate view of the CIS. It is a view which many of my colleagues do not share. Despite this conviction, I do not think Bob Katter’s anti-gay marriage ads should be censored. There are many legitimate arguments against gay marriage (including the freedom of religious ministers to choose not to perform them). Gay marriage is…
Posted: 8:00 am on 11th March 2012
The Finkelstein Report into media regulation, released last Friday, has been greeted by free-speech defenders and journalists with uniform condemnation. So it seems rather redundant for the CIS to add to the chorus. But one aspect of the Finkelstein recommendations caught my eye, and indeed, my mirth. Chapter 12 of the report, which speculates on the future of the media industry, makes for interesting reading. News proprietors are struggling to…
Posted: 9:48 am on 24th February 2012
In a free society, the state has no business with marriage. Marriage is essentially a contract between two persons to cohabit, almost always with the expectation of a long-lasting relationship and most often with the hope of procreating and nurturing children to adulthood. In almost all societies, the marriage contract has also been sanctified by culture and religion. Marriage as a consensual union existed before the state and continues as…
Posted: 12:00 pm on 28th January 2012
Jessica Brown chats with Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked magazine, about the damaging effects of political correctness.
