The Consequences of Rent Control
As Australia faces a rental crisis, the Greens are agitating for rent control. Chief among their voices is Adam Bandt, whose clarion call is: “Unlimited rent increases should be illegal.” The Greens and their cheer squad claim rent control protects tenants from excessive rent increases and provides affordable housing options. Such policies would be implemented in response to affordability concerns,...
The Immorality of Medicare
In May of 1973, a year before the first incarnation of Medicare became law, the Australian Medical Association sent a letter to its members warning about the dangers of socialised medicine. They were concerned about the “interference by governments in the relationship between doctor and patient" and highlighted key freedoms that they said should be protected: No barrier separating the patient...
Remembering Bert Kelly
In my last piece, Remembering Frederick Douglass, I discussed the evils and folly of centralised wage-fixing which, amongst other things, prevented people – young people in particular – from getting a start in the workforce; a foot on that first rung of the employment ladder. Today, we look at centralized wage-fixing’s partner-in-crime – tariff protection. The other side of the micro-economic...
Eye-Opening Dispatches From Vietnam
After three long years of covid lockdown-induced solitary confinement, a loyal Liberty Itch subscriber cut loose, left Australia for South-East Asia and found herself in Vietnam. Animated by what she saw, I started to receive her much-welcomed dispatches about daily life there. Now, if you read any 1960s and 1970s history, you know Vietnam is communist. But what my friend’s streetscape dispatches reveal...
FREE! The Kerry Packer Classical Liberal Masterclass
Some thirty plus years ago, a fellow by the name of Kerry Packer appeared before a House of Representatives Inquiry into Print Media. The context of the inquiry was that the owner of the main metropolitan newspapers and classifieds, Fairfax, had gone broke. And with Fairfax having gone broke, Packer was trying to buy into the re-floated business. This was a...
ANSWER: The Carlson-Shapiro Question
I admit it. There I was on 27 February 2023, making a little mischief with my article: VOTE NOW! Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro? Well, it was mischief-making in the sense that I like to sharply define the line between liberal and conservative and then, with all the goodwill in the world, provoke people to think and explore these differences. There is a difference, you...
VOTE NOW! Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro?
Let’s do something different today, yes? I’m normally beavering away, sharing my opinions with you. Today, though, you’re in the driver’s seat. I’d like to hear from you. So this is what we’re going to do together … I’ll give you a short video to watch. It’s only 1:54 minutes long; You watch it. It’s a discussion between Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. They...
FREEDOM! The Daughter of Davos Resigns.
Two extraordinary things happened yesterday. First, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation effective, at the latest, early in February 2023. (Yes, New Zealanders need to endure her for a few weeks more!) Second, I put out this short tweet yesterday together with a video of the Prime Minister, and it went viral. In a mere 180 minutes, it...
Mr. Adams and his ‘RWNJ’ Slur against an Icon
Federation University’s Verity Archer discovered a letter written in 1975 by Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest cricket batsman ever to play with an unparalleled average of 99.94, to newly elected Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser. The 1975 federal election was undoubtedly a fiercely contested battle. Emotions were high. As any citizen was and is entitled to do, Bradman took a side...
Stunning Early Victorian Election Prediction
To be clear, I don’t know who’s going to win the Victorian election later tonight, 26 November 2022. How can I or any of us? However, I’m going to make a prediction as I write this at 3:20pm ACDT 26 November 2022, and have the prediction published just minutes before the polls have closed so you know I’ve not had any...
