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Ideas about Liberty

liberty

This work focuses on traditional liberal concerns - the extent of government and the restraint of liberty. However, the crucial issue constantly raised and addressed is what makes for a good society. Is a society truly civil if government bureaucracies have constantly to intervene to regulate and restrict the activities of citizens? Or, is the only truly civil society an ‘open society’. The ideal the CIS endorses is that a good society is one in which autonomous citizens are at liberty to order their affairs as they wish, in which individuals have the capacity to take personal responsibility for their choices, and in which people are left free to combine with others as they see fit to advance their mutual interests.

Publications

  1. The Kingdom of God is Forcefully Advancing and Forceful Men Lay Hold of It

    David Coltart | 14 Sep 2011 | Occasional Papers

    In the CIS’s annual Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom, Senator David Coltart discusses the application of biblical... Read More...

  2. INTERVIEW: The Dignity of the Bourgeoisie

    | 20 Aug 2011 | POLICY Magazine

    Deidre McCloskey explains to Matthew Shaffer how, around 1700, a new way of thinking gave birth to the modern world.

  3. BOOK REVIEW: Speech Matters: Getting Free Speech Right

    Thomas Morgan | 20 Aug 2011 | POLICY Magazine

    Speech Matters: Getting Free Speech Right by Katharine Gelber Reviewed by Thomas Morgan

  4. BOOK REVIEW: The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement

    Don Arthur | 20 Aug 2011 | POLICY Magazine

    The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement by David Brooks Reviewed by Don Arthur

  5. Book Review: The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century

    John Shellard | 20 Aug 2011 | POLICY Magazine

    The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke Reviewed... Read More...

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Opinion & Commentary

  1. Italy defaults on debt and sends lenders broke? So be it

    Adam Creighton | 15 Nov 2011 | Crikey

    The federal government will need to cut spending to ensure a surplus in 2012-13.... Read More

  2. Government, not capitalism, should take blame

    Adam Creighton | 21 Oct 2011 | Australian Financial Review

    Capitalism is not about giant corporations being able to dump their losses on taxpayers. It is not about allowing senior ... Read More

  3. Should poker machine gambling be restricted?

    Adam Creighton | 01 Oct 2011 | Sydney Morning Herald

    Reforms to make people pre commit the amount of money they are going to play on the pokies.... Read More

  4. Does gay marriage prove marriage matters?

    Rev Peter Kurti | 29 Sep 2011 | Online Opinion

    Gay couples dragging marriage back into vogue.... Read More

  5. Don’t gamble with people’s freedom

    Rev Peter Kurti | 29 Sep 2011 | The Drum

    New Poker Machine laws are impeding people’s freedom... Read More

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Ideas@TheCentre

  1. How (not) to pick a nanny-state winner

    Jessica Brown | 20 Jan 2012

    Government can’t control everything. People who want to gamble online will gamble online....

  2. Lazy not a disorder

    Sara Hudson | 02 Dec 2011

    Kids who are allowed to play video games all day shouldn’t be labelled with a disorder – their parents should be labelled ...

  3. Texting tragedy

    Meegan Cornforth | 25 Nov 2011

    Introduction of laws in Pakistan that ban the use of certain words in mobile texts afflicts the most basic human right - ...

  4. No end to certainty of state paternalism in Australia

    Alexander Philipatos, Jeremy Sammut | 18 Nov 2011

    The insidious reliance on government paternalism is hobbling the responsible growth of the Australian nation and its people....

  5. Nanny state taxation

    Robert Carling | 04 Nov 2011

    If the nanny state insists on new or increased behavioural taxes, then government should also introduce equivalent cuts in ...

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