The Misguided Quest for “Fair Share”
“Grab your torch and pitch-fork” was the rallying cry of the left in the recent debate over stage three tax cuts. And so the mob was led to follow a trail of sprinkled money to the door of high income earners to rob them of tax relief. In the debate over Australia's tax system, the concept of "fair share" has...
The Nation State
As another Australia Day passes, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on our national identity and what it truly means to be Australian with the number purporting to opt out of celebrating our national day increasing. CHANGE THE DATE 26 January 1788 marks the landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Union Jack in Sydney Harbour. While it...
Decommissioning Solar & Wind Projects: A Costly Endeavour
Over the last decade, decommissioning and waste management of solar and wind energy projects has grown into a thriving industry. In the decades to come, with the continued deployment of projects all over the world, it will massively expand. Solar and wind projects require highly specialised recycling and waste management processes. Decommissioning large plants can run up costs of millions,...
China 2024 and Beyond: A Troubled Future
My recent discussions on Liberty Itch have painted a picture of China’s landscape as a prison-like surveillance-intensive system, and as a no-privacy technology-driven cashless society. In this article, I want to further explore the future of China as we look towards 2024 and beyond. I will examine the implications of China’s expanding surveillance state, the tightening grip of authoritarian...
(Don’t) Be Your Own Boss
By ‘closing the loopholes’, Labor ultimately seeks to undermine self-employment, casual employment and competition, Libertarians must take note. November 17 2023 The scene is the 2023 HR Nicholls Society conference in North Sydney; the speaker is Ken Phillips; the topic: Federal Labor’s ‘Closing the Loopholes’ bill. Phillips is unassuming, plainly dressed, but he means business. In a conference otherwise dominated by...
Go Where You Are Treated Best
‘Go where you are treated best’ is the tagline of entrepreneur, Andrew Henderson, founder of the business Nomad Capitalist. Andrew and his team help entrepreneurs, retirees and others move their lives out of countries like Australia to countries where they will be treated best. It is a business that has being growing exponentially in recent years. When I first heard...
Unions And Religion
Unions and libertarians disagree about almost everything. However, they do both share one core tenet – the right to “freedom of association”. Well, maybe not so much anymore. Freedom of association is a fundamental right cherished by libertarians, as it supports the principle of voluntary cooperation and the right to form associations to pursue common goals. It also happens to...
Curse of The Planner
In her excellent book The Siberian Curse, British-American author Fiona Hill describes how the settlement of Siberia in the twentieth century and the mass movement of people and industry into this vast region by central planners lie at the root of many of Russia’s contemporary problems. Central planning – whether geo-political, social, urban or economic – has caused many a...
China’s Dystopia II: The Digital Panopticon
During my recent one-month stay in China's bustling metropolises, the omnipresence of technology, particularly WeChat (a “Super App” Elon Musk wants X to be for the West), was starkly evident. QR codes adorned nearly every surface, from restaurant menus to market stalls, making WeChat an indispensable part of daily life. The 'everything app' seamlessly integrates functions akin to WhatsApp,...
The Lure of Government Benevolence
Why is it that in many countries, including Australia, governments consistently spend more than they collect in taxes, thus increasing the national debt? Most governments understand that budgets should be balanced. They have seen what happens in countries that accumulate too much debt and cannot service it. And yet, the debt keeps growing. The explanation is rather uncomfortable for many of...
