Cis Podcast

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was under fire for his handling of the bushfires, floods and sports funding scandals. Yet, on the eve of the federal Eden-Monaro by-election, he enjoys high approval ratings while the Coalition edges narrowly ahead in national approval. So the question is, how has the Morrison Government managed this pandemic-endued crisis and will it lead us back to prosperity? What lessons from history can we learn? Indeed, is Morrison the clever leader like Menzies who by his principles, political skills, and unrelenting effort, resisted some of the unwise popular orthodoxies of his time, promoted considerable change and founded modern Australia? Or is Morrison a sheep in sheep’s clothing, leading a government of least resistance to the incessant demands now being made on modern government every day? Join us for Episode 14 of On Liberty this morning at 10 am AEST. Host Salvatore Babones will welcome Scott Prasser, author of forthcoming title Robert Menzies: Man or Myth

"It is becoming clear that cancel culture knows no limits. Old, incredibly valuable pieties at the heart of liberalism are being eroded."James Allan On the show this week Salvatore Babones hosts James Allan, Garrick professor of law at the University of Queensland. In his recent article in The Australian, Allan notes how online twitter mobs don't argue against an opinion or view, rather argue against your view being able to exist at all. The offence-givers and offence-takers imagine themselves as enemies. Cancellation culture is a false hope that we can erase those we don’t like. We'll discuss the dangerous ramifications of being caught up in this culture, the capture of universities and whether it's all about populism vs democracy.

We are pleased to have Dr Jennifer Buckingham to On Liberty. Jennifer is director of strategy and senior research fellow at MultiLit, and the founder and director of the Five from Five project. As a former senior research fellow, now CIS board member, Jennifer has been a integral part of the CIS Education program. Launched five years ago, the Five from Five project was developed with the objective of promoting effective, evidence-based reading instruction, by providing free resources to teachers, principals and parents and advocating for evidence-based policy with politicians and policy makers. Host Salvatore Babones will ask, what has been achieved in the five years of Five from Five reading project. What still needs improvement? And, most importantly, we'll ask what the impact of pandemic induced school closures means for students learning, especially for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds?

New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet joins CIS research director Simon Cowan to discuss the aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The treasurer discusses the New South Wales response to the pandemic, particularly from an economic perspective. Most importantly he details the plan for recovery, emphasising the need for businesses to lead the growth and the importance of generating jobs. We question the post-pandemic debt and deficit, and the effect this will have on future generations. Perrottet looks towards the future and the New South Wales budget, discussing his plan for fiscal and economic reforms to the state and the Federation. _____________________ The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper i

This week, On Liberty, host Salvatore Babones speaks with Lindsay Shepherd. Lindsay has been covering the anti-lockdown protests and is an Investigative Journalism Fellow with True North News in Canada. As the pandemic started to grip the western world in March, governments of all persuasions around the world didn’t take long to embrace their newfound powers. Suppressing our liberties and freedoms with vast and sweeping lockdowns. While there is certainly a role for government to manage the unfolding health and economic crises, we ask Lindsay Shepherd, to what end? Join us for a discussion about the lockdowns, the protests and what parallels can be drawn between Canada in Australia. ____________________ The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so th

A leading intellectual figure in the conservative movement for the best part of half a century, George F. Will is an optimist about America’s capacity to change and renew itself. But he remains a fierce critic of Donald Trump. Presidents seeking re-election bask in chants of “Four more years!” However, as George points out, in November most Americans might flinch: “Four more years of this? The taste of ashes, metaphorical and now literal, dampens enthusiasm.” George F. Will is the Pulitzer Prize award-winning columnist for the Washington Post and a regular contributor to MSNBC. He is also author of several influential books, most recently The Conservative Sensibility. It was a great pleasure and high honour to spend quality time with one of the great political thinkers of the modern era. ____________________ The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politic

This week, Salvatore Babones is joined by Professor Matt Trau, Professor of Chemistry at The University of Queensland and Deputy Director and co-founder of the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Trau and his team at the Australian Institute for Bio-engineering and Nanotechnology are at the forefront of The University of Queensland's research into Covid. Having flattened the curve of infections, we need to get on with the task of restoring faith in our society. We can argue back and forth why we weren't better prepared, why we didn't act sooner and why testing was initially slow. However, the question remains: what will it take to get us back to work and back to normal? Just as the September 11 terror attacks led to dramatic upheavals, so will covid change our way of life. It may take a long time to find vaccines and therapeutic solutions. That means diagnostics tools are our best resource. Why then are we swabbing and testing in the same way we were three decades ago? Trau will tel

The world's governments have picked 169 well-meaning targets, promising everything to everyone. But too many targets mean no priorities. The Copenhagen Consensus Centre has looked into the data and found the targets that would do the most good. While participants at the World Economic Forum just voted the top global risk to be extreme weather, most of the rest of the world wants us to concentrate on the many other problems that cause much more damage than global warming. They point to the immense challenges within health, education, nutrition and corruption - issues, that are much less costly and easier to fix. Dr Lomborg worked with fifty teams of the world’s top economists and several Nobel Laureates to look at where the world can do the most good for every dollar spent. Bjorn Lomborg presents some of the best investment options for humanity — and discuss how we can avoid some of the worst. ________________________ Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/ Support us with a tax-deductible donatio

This week, Salvatore Babones is joined by Robert Forsyth, Senior Fellow at CIS and previous Anglican Bishop of South Sydney. Rob is co-editor of the new book for CIS on religious liberty: Forgotten Freedom No More. Rob will talk to Salvatore about the vulnerability of freedom of religion in Australia and why it is now the freedom that is forgotten no more. We'll take a look at the importance of religious practice and community in Australia and why now, more than ever, there is some cause for concern. What is at stake if religious liberty is not protected? Why has it been so difficult to reach a consensus on a way forward? ____________________ The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future. Che

On the show this week, Salvatore Babones will be joined by Blaise Joseph, Research Fellow in education and a former secondary school teacher. Blaise has written research papers on school funding, evidence-based education policy, and national testing in Australia. The current haphazard school arrangements are harming children’s education, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Given the massive previous taxpayer investments in technology, why weren't the States and Territories better prepared for remote learning? There is light at the end of the tunnel. Parents and policymakers have generally had enough, and schools are now on the path to completely re-open in most states and territories with the notable exception of Victoria. Blaise will give us an overview of the current status of school closures in Australia highlighting inconsistencies and mixed messaging between states. We'll ask what the impact of school closures mean for students learning, especially for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds?

The downhill slide in relations between China and the US is a dangerous development. The friction does not just reflect a bullying Communist regime’s opacity concerning the outbreak of Covid-19. Nor is it the result of a chaotic Trump administration trying to distract attention from its own failures in curbing the virus. Something much deeper and much worse is at stake: a potential clash between what two great powers perceive to be their vital interests. According to one of Australia’s leading strategic thinkers Alan Dupont, the US-China standoff over trade, technology and strategy “has precipitated a new cold war.” Alans says, “In an epoch-defining clash for global leadership, the world’s two major powers are wrestling for strategic advantage in an increasingly bitter contest to determine which of them will be the pre-eminent state of the 21st century. No matter how cleverly spun, a trade deal is not going to get the relationship back on track because both countries have moved from a framework of cooperati

At a time when tensions are running high, CIS Executive Director Tom Switzer asked Has China Won? Our debate between John Mearsheimer and Kishore Mahbubani, two of the world’s leading foreign policy intellectuals. Covid-19 has greatly raised tensions between China and the West. Washington and its allies express outrage at the Communist regime’s opacity concerning the outbreak of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, fears are growing that a pandemic that began in the Chinese city of Wuhan may end by increasing Beijing’s international influence and power. Kishore Mahbubani is author of Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy (just out, PublicAffairs) A former Singaporean ambassador to the United Nations (twice), he was the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He was a guest of CIS in September 2018. John Mearsheimer is author of The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities (Yale University Press, 2019) and The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (Norton, 2014.) He i

On the show this week, Salvatore Babones was joined by April Palmerlee, CEO of the AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia. AmCham includes around 500 company members representing hundreds of thousands of employees operating throughout Australia. The United States is the biggest investor in Australia, full stop. No one else comes close, not even China. More than 100,000 people in Australia today were born in the United States, with many more claiming American citizenship by descent. American companies employ 420,000 people in Australia on a median salary of $115,000 per year. They spend a billion dollars a year locally on research and development. April talked to us about the many roles played by American companies in Australia and the importance of the US-Australian relationship for both countries.

Salvatore Babones speaks with Jacinta Price, Director of the Indigenous Program at the Centre for Independent Studies. Jacinta joins us live from Alice Springs, where she serves as a Town Councillor, to discuss how lockdown compares in remote communities. They discussed what 'social distancing' means in the wide-open spaces of remote Australia, where local quarantines and 'biosecurity zones' are a way of life. Jacinta will explain the government's efforts to keep the coronavirus out of remote settlements with rudimentary medical facilities, and how the pandemic has affected the daily lives of people living in some of Australia's most challenging environments. Are aboriginal communities complying with restrictions? How do we get the indigenous economy moving again after such a set back?

Our weekly live-stream hosted by Salvatore Babones, featuring discussions on how Australian society has been impacted by Covid-19. For your chance to question CIS researchers and other guests join us live on YouTube and Facebook each week. On the show this week, Salvatore Babones speaks with James McBrayer, CEO of the listed medical technology company Cyclopharm and CIS Member. James's company is rare in that it still manufactures here in Australia. The local production line manufactures and distributes the components to several of its products including Technegas, a radio-pharmaceutical used in lung ventilation imaging. We'll be asking James about how his company's products may help fight the coronavirus, the regulatory complexities in operating across jurisdictions and the impact of the variations among healthcare systems. James and Salvatore will also address the current challenges posed for medical supply chains with increased demand across the sector. Watch to find out what it is like to run a multina

On the show this week, Salvatore Babones speaks with CIS Policy Analyst Monica Wilkie. Monica writes on free speech, freedom of religion and identity politics. She is passionate about defending the principles of individual liberty and small government to ensure all Australians can live their lives as they see fit. This pandemic has forced the majority of our society into self isolation, and we are now working and 'socialising' from home at an unprecedented level. Technological advancements such as teleconferencing have been praised for helping keep us all connected during this lock down. But is it possible to substitute face-to-face interaction? And are there long-term implications of depriving people of our fundamental need to socialise - in person?

On the show this week, Salvatore Babones spoke with Alexander Downer, Australia's longest-serving foreign minister and chairman of The UK Policy Exchange In London, about how to "manage the aftermath" of the coronavirus pandemic. Writing in the Australian Financial Review, Alexander Downer recently argued "The federal government now has to start thinking about its exit plan and sell this through the national cabinet to the states. It has to develop acceptable criteria for winding back social isolation and, at some point, end the substantial subsidies to business and the offer of free childcare."

Host Salvatore Babones spoke with Peter Kurti, who directs the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS). Peter discussed the morality of Australia’s response to coronavirus pandemic: hoarding, profiteering, and toilet paper. Beginning the series with a discussion and Q&A session, we’ll look at the community and societal responses to the crisis. "In the rush to save ourselves [from COVID-19], we are in danger of losing sight of the needs of our neighbours, many of whom are more vulnerable and less able to fend for themselves." Peter Kurti In his CIS Ideas article, he went on to suggest that: Whilst not being complacent about the virus, and being sure to observe public health guidelines, we also need to check the fear that arises from speculation and rumour. We need to cultivate the capacity to live calmly in the face of what we do not know. It’s one of our national traits that makes Australia the envy of so many other countries. Admired for our egali

On the show this week, Salvatore Babones speaks with Judith Sloan, contributing economics editor at The Australian. They'll focus on repairing the economic damage that has been done and what strategic economic policies should be pursued by the government. Could we have had lower economic costs and still managed the virus well? Does the situation in other countries attest to the health and economic damage wrought if the virus is not well managed? How do we spur a revival of manufacturing to offset disrupted supply chains and ensure security and prosperity? On Liberty is our weekly live-stream hosted by Salvatore Babones. The show focuses on wide-ranging discussion with the great and the good on how Covid-19 affects Australian society. Please join our CIS researchers and other guests live on YouTube and Facebook each week, or watch past episodes here. Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/ Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/donate/ Join the CIS as a member at - ht

For the past seventy or so years, the United States of America has been the bastion of freedom and democracy, shining the light of its noble ideals around the world and championing those ideals whenever they came under threat. Since the end of the Cold War, American political leaders and policymakers have unashamedly championed U.S. global leadership – from Asia and Europe to the Persian Gulf. However, a few libertarians and classical liberals warned an ambitious foreign policy inspired by vision and sense of mission was fraught with the danger of unintended consequences. It would also represent the kind of foreign policy that has been instrumental in building up the power of states throughout history. CIS’s scholar in residence for 2020, Doug Bandow, is one of those critics — opposing various U.S. ventures, most notably the US-led wars on terror after September 11, 2001. But the circumstances are changing. In the Trump and Bernie Sanders era, calls for abandoning America’s ambitions of global pre-eminence a