It's not enough to disapprove

Everyone disapproves of things that others do. But if we prohibit all the things we disapprove of, nobody will be free.

Smoking, drinking, gambling, eating and certain recreational activities are good examples. While they might be entitled to give advice about the risks, regulators are increasingly taking personal choices away from individuals based on disapproval of the choices they might make.

Current Events

National Conference 2013

The 2013 National Conference of the Liberal Democratic Party was held on 20 January in Sydney.

Formal business included reports, consideration of policies and a new constitution, and election of National Executive members. There were also two guest speakers.

Cassandra Wilkinson: author of the book "Don't panic - nearly everything is better than you think". Her articles feature in The Australian newspaper and she is a regular guest on current affairs programs. She was a senior public servant and former senior adviser to the New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally. She is married to a former Labor MP. A longstanding member of the ALP, she is nonetheless a confirmed libertarian.

Brian Bedkober: a graduate in medicine from the University of Sydney who has spent the bulk of his working life as a family practitioner.

He has also spent a lot of time campaigning against government intrusion in the health system. - most significantly as president of the Australian Medical Centres Association and for the last several years as president of Private Doctors of Australia. He has written widely on health care and related issues, was editor of Australian Private Doctor from 2003 to 2008 and in 2009 authored "Problems in Health Care Delivery: government as cause not cure".

Their presentations are shown here:

Free Speech - No Compromises

The government wants to control the media while regulators and the courts inhibit the expression of opinions. But freedom of speech is one of our most fundamental rights and central to a free, democratic society.

The Private Realm

Around 508 BC, when the Athenians established democracy, they recognised there should be a distinction between the public and private realms.

Aristotle described the public realm as the site where people consent to or contest the laws, contracts, covenants, or principles of community that govern personal and social conduct. The private realm was defined by the hearth and home, remaining the place of family, comfort and individual identity in which the government had no role.

The distinction still exists. We acknowledge that some issues are the legitimate responsibility of the government while others belong in the private domain and are not the government’s business.

The carbon tax - useless and pointless

Whether or not the world is getting warmer, and whether humans are contributing, the proposed Carbon Tax is bad policy. The Liberal Democratic Party believes there will be far less misery if society is simply encouraged to adapt to the changing climate, allowing market responses to proceed and providing support to any people or countries that are genuinely adversely affected.