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R XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Volume 65 I 4 THE DIRTY DOZEN Australia’s Twelve Opponents of Freedom great idea can change the world. But so can a terrible one. And all ideas need their advocates. In this list we’ve chosen the dirty dozen of AAustralian opponents of freedom: the most energetic, aggressive, influential, and outright offensive promoters of the Nanny State, restrictions on free speech, constraints on our economic freedom, and illiberalism in general. They come from academia, journalism, politics, the public service, and the judiciary. Usually they come from a combination of two or more—governments like to reward the promoters of bad ideas with taxpayer funded sinecures. We’ve chosen seven from Australia’s past, and five from today. 6 IPA Review | ipa.org.au XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXTHE DIRTY DOZEN R THE DIRTY Anglosphere since 1695. His report ultimately led to Stephen Conroy’s BEN legislative attempt to regulate the 2 CHIFLEY press in March 2013. But more than the specifics of Had Ben Chifley its proposals, the Finkelstein report got his way expressly demonstrated the deep Australia would hostility of the left towards the public be a far poorer, it claims to serve. Buried in the 474 less free country. Chifley’s vision for a page report was an astounding, post-war Australia was along the lines offensive and deeply undemocratic of the war-time economy: socialistic observation. After citing evidence and regulated, extremely centralised, offered to the committee that all controlled by a Commonwealth ‘citizens must have the capacity to government of near-unlimited power. engage in debate, in the form of The list of indictments is long. RAY the relevant critical reasoning and Chifley nationalised the airlines. He 1 FINKELSTEIN speaking skills’, Finkelstein wrote: tried to nationalise the banks. He There is real doubt as to whether laid the foundations of the welfare Ray Finkelstein, a former federal these capacities are present state behemoth. He embarked on court judge, was appointed by the for all, or even most, citizens. mammoth, expensive public projects. Gillard Government to head the And, even if they are, both As Treasurer in the Curtin Independent Inquiry into the Media speakers and audiences are government he introduced the and Media Regulation. often motivated by interests or Commonwealth income tax and—just The inquiry’s report, released in concerns other than a desire as significantly—the pay-as-you-go February 2012, illustrated clearly, for truth including, of course, collection system, which obscures if primitively, the basic paternalism the desire to make money, and how much tax we actually pay. behind proposals to limit freedom of personal, political and religious Labor’s unsuccessful Fourteen Powers speech. motivations that may render Referendum in 1944—which of course Finkelstein’s recommendations truth of less importance. he was largely responsible for—alone were bad. He proposed a The Finkelstein report was written by would have opened the door for government-appointed ‘News a former senior judge for the benefit unconstrained federal involvement Media Council’ which could censor of the Minister for Communications across the economy. and punish media outlets if they of the Commonwealth of Australia. When Friedrich Hayek counselled were ‘unfair’ or biased. This, in It is shocking to see expressed, in in his 1944 book Road to Serfdom Finkelstein’s view, would make print, such patronising sentiments that economic regulation leads to the media more ‘accountable’. about the citizens and voters. Ray social and political regulation, it was Accountable to the government, Finkelstein should be scorned for politicians like Ben Chifley he was that is. his belief. But he also should be thinking of. It’s astonishing that the In practice, Finkelstein’s proposal thanked for articulating so clearly Labor Party still lauds him as one of was a de-facto press licensing the undemocratic values at the their legends. scheme, of a sort not seen in the foundations of the modern left. JANUARY 2014 | IPA Review 7 R THE DIRTY DOZEN Volume 6665 I 14 STEPHEN BILLY TIM 3 CONROY 4 HUGHES 5 FLANNERY As Communications Minister in While Billy Hughes is best Flannery’s influence on the politics the Rudd and Gillard governments, remembered as a Labor ‘rat’, he of climate change in Australia is Stephen Conroy pushed for internet remained a supporter of all the worst hard to overestimate. He’s written censorship. His proposed mandatory features of the Labor agenda in his five numerous books urging radical, costly, internet filter would have massively decade federal parliamentary career, and dangerous action to reduce our expanded government control whether inside or outside the ALP. emissions and energy consumption. over the internet. He supported establishing He is endlessly feted and promoted by At the same time, Conroy was government businesses, nationalising the ABC. proposing the biggest white elephant monopolies and played a role in Flannery has been proved wrong of Labor’s six years in power—a bringing down the Bruce Government time and time again. In 2007 he massively expensive, government- in 1929 over its attempt to reform famously said, ‘So even the rain that administered internet network. The industrial relations. A key part of falls isn’t actually going to fill our National Broadband Network will cost the Labor agenda was the White d am s …’ taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and Australia Policy, of which Hughes was Most recently he acted as head compete directly with private sector a strenuous advocate, once labelling it of the Climate Commission. The internet service providers. ‘the greatest thing we have achieved’. purpose of the commission was to But by far Conroy’s most The only issues on which Hughes convince the public to accept the dangerous idea was his media differed from his Labor colleagues Gillard government’s high-cost and regulation package. At the urging of were war and conscription. Hughes economically damaging carbon taxes the Greens, Conroy and the Labor was a particularly warlike imperialist and renewable energy policies. Party started a process that would have whose career reached its apogee when Flannery takes a quasi-religious meant basically that the government he played a significant role at the Paris approach to climate advocacy. He would licence the press. Peace Conference in 1919. told the Sydney Morning Herald in The internet filter and media There he demanded that Germany 2004 that ‘I wake up in the morning regulation proposals would have pay crippling reparations, repudiated thinking there are lots of times when been the two greatest restrictions on a Japanese push for a declaration of people have woken up feeling like this, freedom of speech in recent memory. racial equality, and was a leading like the Old Testament prophets. I try opponent of Woodrow Wilson’s push to find a way out of it, but I can’t. It’s for international free trade. Arguably life-changing to realise what is going no Australian Prime Minister has on .’ ever had a bigger impact on the world stage. The shame is that it was so negative. 8 IPA Review | ipa.org.au THE DIRTY DOZEN R DAVID H.B. 6 SYME 7 HIGGINS David Syme was more responsible H.B. Higgins was the sole judge in than any other individual for post- the infamous Harvester case, which Federation Australia adopting established the idea of a mandatory protection as a key economic policy. minimum wage. As publisher and editor of The In the case Higgins held that Age for almost fifty years until his employers were obliged to pay death in 1908, Syme brazenly used wages that met ‘the normal needs the paper to campaign on political of an average employee, regarded issues, particularly demanding as a human being in a civilised protection for developing local community.’ manufacturing industries in Victoria. The Harvester judgement marked The paper had a massive the beginning of a successful push influence on politicians and public for greater government intervention opinion. By reducing the price of in the relationship between employer the paper to one penny, Syme drove and employee. up circulation, which reached a In part, the minimum wage remarkable 100,000 by 1890, five in Australia owes its existence to times higher than its more pro-free Higgins. Restrictions on the ability trade rival The Argus. of enterprising individuals to employ Syme’s most significant disciple others can take many forms. But was the rising politician Alfred Deakin, perhaps the most paternalistic and who not only supported protection singularly most damaging policy in the colony, but did more than any is that of the mandatory minimum other individual to impose it on post- wage. Federation Australia. Higgins deserves his place as one Eighty years of Protectionism of Australian history’s most virulent and reduced economic performance opponents of freedom for helping followed; something which would not to spread economic illiteracy that have happened if Victoria had adopted still pervades the industrial relations a policy of free trade as New South debate more than 100 years on. Wales did. JANUARY 2014 | IPA Review 9 R THEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX DIRTY DOZEN Volume 65 I 4 NICOLA ROXON’S NANNY STATE > REGULATIONS TREATED INDIVIDUALS AS IF THEY WERE NICOLA H.C. COMPLETELY ROXON COOMBS MINDLESS 8 9 Nicola Roxon presided over two of As a senior federal public servant for the biggest assaults on freedom in four decades, Herbert Cole ‘Nugget’ Australia in the last ten years. Coombs successfully pressed for an Roxon’s attempt to make it aggressive expansion of government, unlawful to express a political opinion the legacy of which continues to that offended someone through the harm our freedoms today. Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination A self-described socialist in his Bill was an extraordinary attack youth who studied under leftist on the fundamental principle of Harold Laski at the London School freedom of speech.

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