The first 2008 Liberty and Society conference was held on April 11-13 in Sydney. A record number of applications were received and we selected 31 students to attend. They ranged from undergraduates, some working on higher degrees and some newly out in the workforce. As usual a number of attendees are involved in political parties of all persuasions either on campus or working for politicians.

We were fortunate to have Professor Chandran Kukuthas, who is now based at the LSE in London, join us to talk about how classical liberals can co-exist with illiberal societies. Professor Sinclair Davidson RMIT presented the economics lecture for the first time and Professor Suri Ratnapala from UQ horrified the students with the property rights violations involved with the Qld Vegetation Act legislation. Finally, Professor Peter Saunders presented the students with confronting issues relating to the welfare state and how/if it can be turned back.

The conference was very well received by the students with comments such as the following:

‘Exceeded all expectations. What a pity you can only do it once!’

‘I sincerely believe that L&S is such an important vehicle in providing alternatives to what many students find unsatisfying in university. I think it’s the only place where Classical Liberal ideals are discussed and debated in an environment that is tolerant to them.’