John Roskam’s Opinion Newsletter
IPA Senior Fellow John Roskam explains the good, bad and ugly of Australian politics in his weekly opinion newsletter, One & Free.
We’re lucky – but not serious
A snapshot of Australia in 2023 This week has given us a bit of a snapshot of Australia in 2023. And what does that snapshot show? We might be a lucky country - but we're not a serious country. (Although I should qualify the word 'lucky'. 'Luck' implies we had nothing to do with our success - but [...]
Being a minority of one
You need to know you're not alone In Nineteen Eighty-Four there's scene in which Winston Smith ponders the purpose of his job which is to rewrite historical documents. He asks 'I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY. He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether he himself was a lunatic. Perhaps a lunatic was simply [...]
One word of truth
Tucker Carlson said something you don't often hear. You've probably already watched or heard about Tucker Carlson's video that went up on Twitter yesterday. He announced he'll be starting a new program on the platform. As I'm writing this the video has been watched 119 million times. I wasn't a religious viewer of Carlson. What I saw of [...]
The Kevin Rudd and Niki Savva approach to people they disagree with.
We don't trust the media - and we don't trust each other. Today, 3 May is 'World Press Freedom Day'. I won't spend time contemplating the irony of the United Nations in 1993 creating such a day, other than note that the member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council include China, Cuba, and Qatar. According to [...]
Ordinary men doing extraordinary things
Australia and the purpose of ANZAC Day ANZAC Day is almost all we've got left to share with each other. National Days are necessary to countries that are more than just geographical expressions. People living in a community need something in common and beliefs and experiences that are shared in some way. In Australia today there's not much that brings us together. [...]
When principles confront politics
...and polls on the Voice and lessons in Australian history Thank you for your support and thank you for your interest in my One & Free newsletter. After just a fortnight One & Free already has more than 2,000 subscribers from across Australia - including quite a few MPs! Please feel free to share/forward on/cut and paste One [...]