Big Announcement For Liberty Itch

Today is my last day as Publisher.

With the dedication of many classical liberals and libertarians, Liberty Itch has now grown to the point of needing someone full-time in the role.

What started 433 days ago as my personal Substack is now Australia’s first and only libertarian daily, a stimulating and thought-provoking online magazine boasting sixteen magnificent libertarians, among them former ministers, Productivity Commission members, senators, party leaders, economists, lawyers, historians, doctors, entrepreneurs and human rights activists.

At the time of publishing this, there are 210 compelling articles. Reflecting the dangerous overreach of government in our times, Liberty Itch has focused heavily on personal liberty and economics. Afterall, we want government out of our bank accounts and out of our private lives.

Liberty Itch has dissected legislation and scrutinised budget expenditure. We’ve poked-fun at sluggish agencies and celebrated electoral wins. Liberty Itch has fearlessly held the torch to the feet of those who steal our money and trample our civil liberties. And we’ve interviewed Nobel Prize nominees and chased MPs from corruption-inducing relationships.

In the midst of these battles and as I recruited more writers, the back-office burden grew. I was pleased to appoint an Editor in former Senator David Leyonhjelm to alleviate some time. Searching for the next growth steps, I appointed Peter Leech as Strategy and Planning Advisor. A eureka moment with him saw me alleviate another 15 hours a week on article artwork and layout. We now have Vikas Sharma as Curation Designer.

We established a New Zealand desk to extend our reach.

Let’s shape our future direction together, now with a full-time Publisher at the helm.

Liberty Itch is read by Australian and New Zealand libertarians, naturally. However, the readership now penetrates the United States, India, Georgia, China, the United Kingdom, UAE, France, Canada, Singapore, South Korea and many other countries. It boasts an aggregated monthly reading time in excess of 100 hours. Not bad for short, punchy 3-minute articles!

For the new Publisher, there will be further iterations of functional delegation required to make Liberty Itch a permanent fixture on the political landscape, including in the areas of subscriptions, advertising, distribution, additional contributor recruitment, TV show and merchandising.

I’m confident however that a sound base has been established. This 433-day entrepreneurial act and the 83 articles I’ve written are my contributions to the movement.

Liberty Itch will flourish best if the next phases are navigated by someone full-time, if only a person could be found.

I have identified and recruited that person.

In order to maximise the success of our mission to promote libertarianism, I’m pleased to announce that I have sold Liberty Itch to former Senator Bob Day AO who will assume the role of Publisher full-time from 12 noon ACDT today, 22 December 2023 with my blessing and full support. 

What started 433 days ago as my personal Substack is now Australia’s first and only libertarian daily

I initiated a first meeting with Bob Day so we could negotiate preferences in our respective capacities as party presidents, I for the Libertarians and he for the Australian Family Party. We instantly hit it off. I shouldn’t have been stunned to discover on walking into his office that it housed a 2,000+ volume private library on libertarianism. His pedigree as an economic liberal is well-established. Bob served as a senior office-bearer of the H.R.Nicholls Society and also the Centre for Independent Studies, both libertarian think-tanks. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the housing industry and, much to the chagrin of the Left, for social welfare. And his commitment to Liberty Itch has been unwavering, beginning as a writer near the start of our journey and now committing his energies full-time to the top job.

Please make Bob feel welcome as he takes the reins.

A particular thank you to former Senator David Leyonhjelm. Not only is David the Editor of Liberty Itch but, in this capacity, he is coaching the next generation of libertarian writers. At times, that is challenging. It’s not easy to push back on volunteer writers. Self-reflection is hard at the best of times, but best when facilitated by a willing and experienced mentor. Thank you David.

And a very special mention to our Chairman, Andrew Allen. Andrew is a lifelong friend and business partner. He has carefully scrutinised my Liberty Itch work and provided countless hours of governance and IT support since launch to this transition of ownership. Liberty Itch would never have emerged were it not for Andrew.

I will continue to write for the publication I founded and love. 

There is much to do. The socialists and jihadists, identitarians and the woke are circling. Conservatives do not have the answers. As FA Hayek said, “The tug of war between conservatives and progressives can only affect the speed, not the direction, of contemporary developments.”

Let’s shape our future direction together, now with a full-time Publisher at the helm.

Exciting times.

Onwards and upwards.

Thank you for your support. To help us in our battle to protect liberty and freedom please click here

Kenelm Tonkin

An entrepreneur who has employed 1,470+ people, Kenelm was admitted to the BRW Fast 100 three times with businesses in Australia, NZ, Singapore and New York, where he lived for 12 years. Kenelm’s investment firm performs mid-market leveraged roll-ups. He was a regular columnist for the Australian Financial Review. Kenelm is the Founder of Liberty Itch.