Posted: 8:00 am on 15th May 2012
The Sydney Morning Herald is running a poll asking if Australians are Racist. So far 74% of respondents say yes and 26% say no. Some of the commentators include Larissa Berendt who argues that Australia is a racist country because Aboriginal people have a shorter life expectancy. However, there are many reasons why their life expectancy is shorter than the average Australian. Berendt also claims that institutional racism is rampant…
Posted: 8:00 am on 23rd April 2012
An idea winning some popularity around the world is that candidates for high political office should be required, either by law or by peer pressure, to disclose their latest tax returns. Such disclosure has long been a ritual of US presidential election campaigns; it is the practice in some other countries; and recently British politicians have come under pressure to follow suit. Prime Minister David Cameron has already conceded the…
Posted: 8:00 am on 5th April 2012
I try to keep abreast of the buzz phrases used in Aboriginal affairs. Buzz phrases are fine, as they can (in theory at least) facilitate communication regarding the problems facing many of the Aboriginal people in this country. However, buzz phrases (such as “assimilation”, “divide and conquer”, “institutional racism”, “invaders”, “mother earth”, etc.) are value laden, extremely subjective, often emotive and divisive, and typically distract us for addressing the real…
Posted: 8:00 am on 12th March 2012
I only met James Q. Wilson twice, and one of them was when he was on an extended trip to Australia in 1997 and delivered the Centre’s John Bonython Lecture, The Morality of Capitalism. Jim delivered a masterful talk worthy of one of the more important intellectual figures of the last 100 years. The topic certainly rings true today. It’s hard to believe that this thoughtful and courteous man 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…
