Centre for Independent Studies

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. How...

Australia isn’t the only country exposed to a novel coronavirus recession in China. The COVID-19 epidemic is first and foremost a human tragedy, but it also has raised fears about the performance of the Chinese economy and everyone who supplies it. According to some scholars, such as Minxin Pei, the outbreak of the new and deadly epidemic is exposing the vulnerabilities of China’s top-down regime....

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...

Many seasoned experts of American politics believe Donald Trump is the most vulnerable first-term president since Jimmy Carter four decades ago. After all, his refusal to abide by familiar presidential decorum, especially in his public statements and attacks on individuals, turns off a majority of voters. However, the Democrats are moving to the ideological Left so rapidly that they may let Trump...

To launch Restoring Hope: Practical Policies to Revitalise the Australian Economy by Andrew Stone, CIS welcomed former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, editor-at-large for the Australian, Paul Kelly and CIS executive director, Tom Switzer. Andrew, Tony, Paul and Tom sat down to have a conversation on Australia’s economic outlook for 2020, climate policy and immigration, the panel also took questions fr...

Changing the Debate; Our expert panel comprised of CIS’s Indigenous Program director, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO, Dr Anthony Dillon and Chris Kenny of Sky News joined us at the Centre for Independent Studies for a conversation on how best to change the debate surrounding indigenous issues. When the nation debates whether we should change the date of Australia Day, we shou...

The 2019 CIS Nanny Awards take a look back at the year's best and most absurd attempts of the state to try to meddle and infringe on our daily lives. Presented by CIS Executive Director, Tom Switzer and Emeritus Professor Steven Schwartz. 1st; The Australian Federal Government's bash ban. 2nd; New South Wales Police ban dancing at Sydney’s Fringe Festival. Equal 3rd; Nanny state risking our right...

On Thursday, 5 December we launched Richard Alston’s new book, More to Life than Politics (Connor Court). Alston, a renowned former cabinet minister of the Howard Government and high commissioner in London was joined by former Prime Minister John Howard, they sat down to conversation led by Tom Switzer. In his book, the former diplomat, barrister, cabinet minister and veteran Liberal senator detai...

China has become a key nation for Australia’s future – for our security, economy and identity. But what are China’s intentions when it comes to Australia? In the Xi Jinping era, Beijing has stepped up its campaign for influence, over hearts and minds, mineral and agricultural resources, media outlets and sea lanes. Yet the Communist regime wants more — as much power and influence over Australia as...

Brexit Party MEP and Director of the Academy of Ideas Claire Fox discusses how the Remainer elite have delegitimised the Brexit vote. Ever since the British people voted to leave the European Union in 2016, Remainers have actively tried to thwart the will of the people. They constantly spin a narrative, that Brexit voters were stupid and gullible to know what they voted for. If this process has sh...

In conversation with Sue Windybank, Geoff Raby discusses the internal and external problems plaguing China. Unrest in Hong Kong threatens Beijing's authority. Whereas, economic challenges and a trade war with the US risk future economic growth. Raby has been a vocal critic of Australia's approach to the PRC and believes inflamed rhetoric risks this important bilateral relationship. What does the f...

Director of the Free Market Foundation Mate Hajba, has been a strong critic of Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban. Hajba says, under Orban, there has been an undeniable erosion in the rule of law in Hungary. But Orban still has political opponents, and it is not impossible to win elections. When Hungary is discussed in Australia, it usually involves Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Mate Hajba says O...

American historian Daniel Pipes discusses antisemitism. Islamic antisemitism remains the greatest threat. But many western countries are witnessing a rise in left-wing antisemitism. Pipes attributes this to a certain sympathy many western leftists have towards various Islamic causes. Pipes also believes non-Muslims need to help reformers and moderates to modernise Islam. Islamic terrorism has mean...

In this interview with Simon Cowan, economics professor, John Taylor argues that countries should focus on cutting taxes and regulation if they want to boost growth. Taylor also suggests that central banks need to become better strategists and explain their decisions. It has been an interesting decade in monetary policy. Professor of economics John Taylor discusses the warning signs we ignored, an...

Parental school choice in Australia. Led by Fiona Mueller, the CIS education program focuses on School Choice and School Funding among its key areas of research. School choice continues to be a policy area that attracts considerable public attention, particularly concerning funding strategies. Choosing a school is important to parents, but new CIS research shows that many experience buyer’s remors...

In his book, Ten Remarkable Australians, Ian Macfarlane pens biographical essays about ten Australians, who were once prominent and well known for their achievements on the world stage, but whose images have faded from the national memory. Written in the tradition of the eminent historian Geoffrey Blainey, Macfarlane salutes the Australia of this period and its talented expatriates. Ian Macfarlane...

Hear from Simon Heffer, a leading conservative commentator who has known Boris Johnson for three decades, as we discuss the UK’s newest and most enigmatic leader. The British Conservative grassroots have voted Boris Johnson for leader in large numbers because they believe he has the charisma, showmanship and, incidentally, views on Brexit to ensure Britain leaves the European Union successfully on...

The arts are battered and boxed in by the proliferating dos and don’ts of political correctness, the predations of gotcha identity politics and the hypersensitivities of the #MeToo movement. The John Bonython Lecture is the annual Gala event for the Centre for Independent Studies. Designed to advance the principles of free choice, individual liberty, defend cultural freedom and the open exchange o...

The arts are battered and boxed in by the proliferating dos and don’ts of political correctness, the predations of gotcha identity politics and the hypersensitivities of the #MeToo movement. The John Bonython Lecture is the annual Gala event for the Centre for Independent Studies. Designed to advance the principles of free choice, individual liberty, defend cultural freedom and the open exchange o...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s increasingly hardline rule at home and growing assertiveness abroad show few signs of moderating despite recent pushback. If anything, Beijing is becoming more uncompromising — whether it be over the Uighurs in Xinjiang and protests in Hong Kong, or in the South China Sea as its military power grows. Meanwhile, Australian attitudes towards the PRC are hardening. Prot...

China uses its trade power as leverage to infiltrate institutions and bully virtually every Western nation. Anastasia Lin knows this firsthand, having grown up in Communist China and faced down the regime as an international human-rights activist. Even after Chinese rights advocates immigrate to the West, the Communist Party uses their family members in China as leverage to silence and intimidate...

For years, Australian policymakers have balanced China’s desire for an enhanced regional role with our desire for U.S. protection. However, contrary to the Canberra consensus, there is going to be an intense strategic rivalry between our major trading partner and our major strategic ally. According to John Mearsheimer, one of America’s leading foreign-policy thinkers, Washington will not let China...

As China converts its growing economic power into military power, it will seek to dominate Asia the way the U.S. has dominated the western hemisphere since the 19th century. Washington will go to great lengths to prevent China from seeking regional hegemony. The tensions over tariffs, Taiwan and Hong Kong are just the beginning of a deteriorating Sino-American relationship. Australian foreign-poli...

As our 2019 Helen Hughes lecturer, Michael Ondaatje surveys the increasingly tribal political landscape of modern America. Paying special attention to the toxic racial politics of the Trump era, explain why the dream of a “post-racial” society has died, and how it might be revived. The United States is more divided today than at any time since the Vietnam War era. Society is fracturing along crude...

Dr Jeremy Sammut and Maurice Newman – former chairman of the Australian Stock Exchange and columnist with The Australian newspaper – had a conversation about what can be done to stop corporate political meddling and to ensure that business keeps out of politics. Major Australian companies are increasingly involved in contentious political debates – such as Indigenous Recognition – that are not the...