2020 in Hindsight

Well without going too much into detail (as that has already been done in numerous places) I found most of the resolutions coming out of 2020 to be quite predictable. The ALS provides a nice round up of key points, and Senator Andrew Bartlett’s blog provides a good compilation of the various opinions found around the blogosphere. Views range from highly unimpressed (those on the extreme left and extreme right) to more supportive (generally the “moderate” [populist?] commentators). Most suggestions involved the government “fixing” some kind of problem (real or perceived) so naturally the LDP opposes most of the measures suggested. It isn’t that the ideas were without merit (though some- such as banning smoking for people born in 2008 or later and revoking citizenship for those unable to pass a “climate test”- fall into this category) but rather that the entire weekend seemed to be focused on encouraging the government to engage in social engineering.

Take an example that is close to my heart- that is the study of Asian Languages. The final goal was listed as being “To ensure that the major languages and cultures of our region are no longer foreign to Australians but are familiar and mainstreamed into Australian society.” Now this statement in itself is fairly innocent, I guess. And broadly I am supportive of it. But how exactly will Kevin and his government go about achieving this goal? Compulsory subjects and centralised curriculum come to mind…

Now, I’ve studied Japanese for a number of years, I’m now studying Chinese. I was frustrated that in grade 5-6 I studied Indonesian, 7-8 studied German and 11-12 studied Japanese. I have wished that languages could be taught in Australia at a less superficial and more immersive level. But I definitely don’t think that a centralised curriculum is the way to do it. Forcing compulsory subjects onto schools and students isn’t the best way to ensure Australians gain a greater understanding of Asian languages. For a start I don’t trust the government to pick the right language winners (should we teach Mandarin? Indonesian? Japanese? Cantonese? Which Asian language should be learnt?) and secondly I don’t think that a centralised government curriculum is going to care about teaching languages so much as providing voting parents with warm fuzzy feelings that their children are learning through stricter assessment based “learning”. Currently Australian high schools might as well not even be teaching foreign languages for the fluency it gives students- I feel a freer education market would be far more likely to solve this problem than government intervention.

A number of the other suggestions are valuable in so far as they are things I find “ethical” (companies should consider environmental and human concerns, not just profits) but not things I think the government should be enforcing. The government is hardly the way to solve all the world’s ills. Individuals free from government coercion will, in time, solve a lot of their own problems. While values such as tolerance, eco-friendliness and compassion are things I hold in high-regard I believe eventually that they will prosper in the free-market of ideas. Most of the time the government is just following social trends rather than leading anyway.

Why Democracy?

There has been an interesting discussion recently over at the Australian Libertarian Society Blog regarding democracy. A lot of people seem to have some naïve views about democracy that I would like to dispel. It’s actually not that uncommon- I’ve had people in the past question the LDP’s name saying, “liberty, that’s all well and good, but why democracy? Isn’t that just mob rule and contradictory to freedom?” Well, yes and no, depending on how one views democracy. Taken in isolation democracy can be seen as to put it bluntly “two wolves and a sheep voting on what to eat for dinner” but the reality of democracy, particular the tradition of liberal democracy seen in Western nation states is far removed from such a crude analogy. So I’d like to take some time to highlight why democracy is not just a “necessary evil” but rather a good that we should strive for.

Give us R18+

It might seem contradictory to hear a libertarian asking for more regulation but in the case of video games it is entirely necessary.

At present in Australia games have a maximum rating of MA15+. What this means in games that should be classified as R18+ (and would be if they were films) are either denied classification (becoming illegal) or are shoved into the MA15+ rating, even when their content is substantially more “adult”.

Now, part of me thinks that parents should have the responsibility to screen what their children play and watch, but on a practical level ratings do make the job of parenting a lot easier. But provided that the government needs to “protect the children”™, an R18+ rating for video games would provide another level of protection for parents who currently may allow their teenagers an MA15+ game that has slipped through “under-classified”.

And for adults, well, I really don’t believe there is any reason for censorship of games that would be legal if they were films instead. Why should companies have to make the decision between not releasing a game in Australia and having to bear the financial burden of releasing a separate version their adult-targeted game just so it is “teen safe”? Video games are not just for children, they are an interactive medium of entertainment that, just like film, should be allowed to target any audience from 0-100 (and older!) If a game company wants to confront particularly adult themes in their game let them and give them the classification to do so while still helping parents decide what material their children can watch/ play.

Article inspired by news of GTA IV being censored in Australia: http://www.cnet.com.au/games/xbox/0,239029621,339288114,00.htm

GG, Mr. Rudd, GG!

(Sorry about the gamer humour for those who don’t get it.)

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/first-female-viceregal/2008/04/13/1208024989606.html

Australia’s set to get our first female Governor General. It seems barely noteworthy that she is female, which goes to show that gender is less important in the modern world than qualifications. It is in breaking with a long tradition and considering we’ve had a female monarch since 1952 it does actually seem a little strange that this is the first female representative of the Crown.

It’s also a little interesting that given Rudd’s alleged commitment to a republic that he should pick the first female Governor General to be, potentially, the last one.

Personally, my biggest annoyance isn’t with her gender, but rather with the fact that it’s another damn Queenslander.

Upcoming Elections

Added a new page on upcoming elections to the blog. It can be found at the top of the page or here.

Hopefully it will prove either interesting or useful.

LDP (NSW) Meeting - April 2008

Peter Whelan (NSW President) would like to remind LDP members and supporters that the NSW division meets on the third Thursday of each month.

Place: Drummoyne Sports Club, Sydney
Next Date: Thursday 17th April 2008
Time: 7.30pm

The evening is an opportunity to meet other members and catch up on what’s happening in the party. Also on the agenda for this meeting:-

* NSW Membership Drive
* Fund Raising
* State Registration

You can join the party on the evening if you are not already a member.

Policy committee

The LDP is growing. The election didn’t provide a great outcome in votes, but it did energise a good group of active members who are helping to take the LDP to the next step in organisational evolution. And one of those steps is the establishment of a “policy committee”.

If you would like to be involved in the on-the-ground policy development for the LDP, then please contact me on john.humphreys99@gmail.com.

Keeping up with the blogs

Outside of election time the LDP blog doesn’t see as much action as some other good libertarian blogs. If you would like to keep up with the debates, please check out:

Thoughts on Freedom — this is the official blog of the Australian Libertarian Society and has a number of bloggers who are also LDP members, including Terje Petersen, Jim Fryar, Jon Hoyle (aka bloodypommy), Sukrit Sabhlok & myself.

Catallaxy Files — one of the biggest Australian political blogs, catallaxy includes commentry from Jason Soon, Helen Dale (aka SkepticLawyer), Rafe Champion and others.

Andrew Norton — A self-proclaimed “classical liberal” and ex-Liberal staffer, Andrew provides some of the most polite and well considered blog debates in Australia.

2008 National Conference

The 2008 National Conference will be held on Saturday 26 January at the Drummoyne Sports Club.  Starting time is 12 noon. See the Get Involved page for location.

All members (financial and honorary) are encouraged to attend. Financial members may nominate for vacancies on the Executive and vote. Honorary members may upgrade to financial at any time, including at the meeting.

After the formal meeting there will be workshops to formulate plans and actions for building on the momentum created by the federal election.

60.5% support Rudd

A recent Roy Morgan poll showed a predicatable increase in support for Kevin Rudd’s new Labor government. The numbers are:

Labor     – 49.5% (up 6.1%)
Coalition — 34% (down 8.1%)
Greens   – 10.5%
Fam 1st — 2.5%
Other    — 3.5%

On two-party preferred that gives Labor a 60.5% - 39.5% lead over the coalition. Of course, this doesn’t really mean much so soon after an election. But it does show what a long road the Liberals have in front of them if they are to be competitive at the next election.