Asset-Owning Democracy Strengthens Mainstream Australia

“Prime Minister Morrison is right to put the interests of the Australian people ahead of an unaccountable internationalist bureaucracy,” said Andrew Bushnell, Research Fellow with the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.

On 4 October, the Prime Minister spoke to the Lowy Institute and committed his government to reasserting Australia’s national sovereignty against what he characterised as ‘negative globalism’.

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech, Mr Bushnell said: “It should not be controversial to say that in all things, the Australian Commonwealth should act in the interests of Australians.”

The Prime Minister’s speech coincides with the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Reference Committee’s ongoing Inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy.

The Institute of Public Affairs submitted to the inquiry a new research report, released today. Australian values and the enduring value of the nation-state contributes to the current debate about the role of national identity and international cooperation in Australian politics by placing Australia’s national values in their historic context and arguing for their continued wisdom and relevance.

“Australia is the home that we all share, and this inquiry is an opportunity for Australians to remind our political class of the values and customs that have made this country great,” said Mr Bushnell.

“Australian values include freedom, egalitarianism, and localism. We are a nation blessed with the freedom to pursue our own projects, secured by a system of law that treats us as equal individuals, and governed by our peers.”

The report finds that government functions best when it gives expression to these values by enabling individual Australians to put down roots in their communities through home ownership, work and enterprise, and saving.

“At its best, our country acts on our values to build an asset-owning democracy in which Australians have the chance to create success for themselves and their families.”

“Political developments here and abroad in recent years are a reminder that the nation-state remains the world’s primary political institution. The public expects that the state will represent their values and their understandings of national identity and national history,” said Mr Bushnell.

Download the report here.