MANNKAL FOUNDATION’S Mannkal’s Musings* HALF -YEARLY R E V I E W Editor: Genevieve Mitchell April 2015 Vol. 9 Contents Upcoming Events & Staff 2 Chairman’s Report 3 CEO’s Report 4 Where Are They Now? 5 Advisory Council/Ambassadors/Donors 6 Mannkal Scholarships 7-14 Around the World with Mannkal Friedrich Naumann Foundation Lithuanian Free Market Institute Institute of Economic Affairs Atlas Network Lion Rock Institute New Zealand Initiative Institute of Public Affairs Menzies Research Centre Mannkal Events 15-17 Year Ahead Function Freedom of the World Index Mont Pelerin Society Scholars’ Articles 18 Lyndsay Barrett Scholarship Opportunities 19 *n. mus·ings A product of contemplation; a thought Mannkal’s Musings Mannkal Foundation’s Half-Yearly Review 2014 Events in 2015 Year Ahead Event Economic Freedom of the It has been a fantastic six months for events at World Index Mannkal, with more still to come! Our monthly newsletter, e-Focus, is the best way to keep up to World Conference on Market date on events and to receive the latest information Liberalisation … about Mannkal’s Scholarships. Visit: http://mannkal. org/subscribe.php to subscribe. and much more! Ron’s Mannerisms Find out what Ron is discussing each month on his blog “Mannerisms”. Ron provides ideas and insights on topics ranging from Kalgoorlie style entrepreneurship to Islamic Terrorism and distant memories of Moscow. Find us... Mannkal’s Facebook page has grown exponentially www.mannkal.org Facebook.com/Mannkal over the past year, with constant updates of interesting articles and videos. Facebook Stats: March 2015—826 people like this, Mannkal97 @Mannkal 1,700 visits this year, reaching 45 countries. The Origin of the Word “Mannkal” “Mannkal” was originally the “cable”, then “telex”, then “fax” address of our thriving 120-year-old, family com- pany, Manners & Co. / Mannwest Group Pty Ltd. Then for many years the name was used in Mannkal Mining Pty Ltd which was Mannwest’s exploration and mining company from 1970 – 1996. When that company was sold as the controlling shareholder of public company Croesus Mining N.L., it was sold without its name which was then available and used for the Mannkal Foundation. The Mannkal word is a combination of the family surname “Manners” and “Kalgoorlie”, the city where we learned the “art of doing business”. You might ask, “so, what is the art of doing business?” Perhaps described as the practical outcome of voluntary transactions (no coercion, by unions or occupation- - astic about conducting further transactions together. Mannkal Volunteers and Staff Trustee Board/Members Executive Assistant Web and IT Consultant Ron Manners (Chairman) Judy Carroll Matthew Lock John Corser (Deputy Chairman) Accountant Editorial Consultant John Hyde Henri Hitié Dr Chris Ulyatt Mac Nichols Bill Stacey Scholarships Jenny Manners Co-ordinator Prof. Steven Schwartz Becky Vidler Publications & Events Co-ordinator Paul McCarthy Genevieve Mitchell page 2 Mannkal’s Musings Mannkal Foundation’s Half-Yearly Review 2014 Harvesting Ideas from Fresh Fields About a year ago I had a birthday at which someone who knows me rather well made a few comments. He referred to my mining years back in the ’80s/’90s when I was known to employ lots of female geologists, long before it was fashionable to do so. Half the audience assumed that the reason was simply because the female geologists were far more attractive than the males. The other half assumed that it was some form of quota hiring so that I could appear to look politically correct. The real reason was none of the above but rather based upon a pre-existing illegitimate power of the geology at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines, back in state to enrich some persons at the expense of others”. 1924, I realised that there could be nothing wrong with Public Choice Theory explains how those receiving the female geologists. legislation, spreading the costs over a far larger group 2. The second and most important reason was simply who just accept this as yet another tax. rational self-interest. I saw female geologists of the 1980s and 1990s being similar, in one way, to black At Mannkal we understand Public Choice Theory and lawyers in the United States. They knew that to be as I’ve done in business over the last few years (and regarded as equal to the white lawyers, they had to our family company celebrates its 120th anniversary be better. So a similar motivation existed with female geologists. To be equal they just had to be better. our way around them. With the help of the Mannkal By being better they started to “show up” the male geologists who, in turn, simply had to lift their game, too. So we all won. presentation evenings and other student events. Why I’m telling you all this is because it reminds me of the Mannkal Foundation. Hearing a great group of I’m encouraged by this external support which 18 returning students thank us during their returning Mannkal is receiving now as I know, personally, that presentations, I felt again that we are driven by rational the show will stay on the road long after I’m gone. We self-interest. These students go out to different points also see the Ambassadors as having a mentoring role with our various students. Paul McCarthy, Mannkal’s They bring these ideas back to us and we simply put CEO, working with Rebecca Vidler, our Scholarships these ideas to work. As a result, our outgoing student Co-ordinator, heads up a great team with tremendous programme for next year will be even better than this year. support from our wonderful Mannkal Board, Ambassadors and Advisory Council. from their own experience. The students’ experiences, Conclusion of course, depends very much on how they lever their Each team member is vital to Mannkal’s performance, future careers off their Mannkal experience. so let me say how much we enjoy our challenge at the Mannkal Foundation. We understand that clarity of Returning scholars might notice Mark Maciolek’s purpose is critical to success and to an empowered comment about the paper he prepared and presented life. We are certainly clear about our purpose and if we in New Zealand on philanthropy/charity regulations. We are having a positive impact, then that’s a bonus on top suspect that New Zealand’s legislation on charities will of simply enjoying ourselves. be as inadequate as Australia’s and we expect to learn much from Mark’s paper. The current inadequacies of Thanks to all concerned. charities legislation doesn’t surprise me as we see this as yet another example of what is called Public Choice Theory which explains most bad government policies. As Robert Nozick stated, “The illegitimate use of a Ron Manners state, by economic interests, for their own ends, is Chairman page 3 Mannkal’s Musings Mannkal Foundation’s Half-Yearly Review 2014 2015 will be a bumper year for Mannkal and we have already exploded out of the blocks. From hosting speakers on Bitcoin and higher education reforms, to establishing internships with new hosts in Malaysia, South Korea and the UK, to being invited to the exclusive Antigua Forum – which is the equivalent of the Davos Conference for liberal reformers – We also welcomed back 18 scholars from the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Germany, Lithuania and the Eastern States. I can see in each of them the personal and professional growth they experienced over nearly three months and their host think-tanks have been effusive in praising them. Our recent Year Ahead event illustrated the fruits of their time away with speeches, case studies and videos that were of absolutely professional quality. We are very proud of them all and look forward to continuing a close association with these newest additions to Mannkal’s alumni. We look forward to our next round of scholars with many opportunities and the HETSA conference, both in Sydney, and the Freedom to Choose conference here in Perth. One of the most exciting will be the World Conference on Market Liberalisation to be held in Bali in July – a great excuse to leave the wind and rain of a Perth winter to rub shoulders with some of the world’s leading economists! In addition, we are lining up scholarship opportunities for July in locations from Seoul and Rangoon to London and LA. Applications for conference and internship scholarships are open now, closing in late April. I encourage all students to apply and to keep a close eye on our website – which, by the way, will soon undergo a makeover to better showcase our scholars’ achievements. We are looking at a number of exciting opportunities in the next twelve months, with some already in progress. Our recently returned scholars are being lined up with work experience placements in Perth organised by Mannkal with a number of Perth’s leading organisations. There are also opportunities we are exploring for students to get credit for their scholarships towards their degrees – swapping the classroom for an international experience! We will repeat our Freedom of the World Index launch towards the end of the year and are organising some top speakers – stay tuned for names and dates. Most exciting of all, we will sponsor 154 scholars this year – more than double our number from last year – to more destinations than ever before, and with a greater breadth of opportunities to include journalism and digital media. It’s going to be a huge year for Mannkal. We can’t wait to see the results and look forward to your support! Top to bottom; left to right: Paul McCarthy & Fred McMahon; Paul McCarthy; Tom Camp, Danielle Lukic, Conrad Kara- Paul McCarthy george; Jenny Manners, Ron Manners & Paul McCarthy CEO page 4 Mannkal’s Musings Mannkal Foundation’s Half-Yearly Review 2014 Hannah Berdal In 2014, I travelled to Austria as an exchange student with the University of Vienna Juridicum.