The reform of the welfare state is going to require courage, intellectual honesty and a willingness to admit that cherished beliefs were wrong. Politically, many of my friends are a little left of centre. I observe them having great difficulty coming to grips with the moral failures of the welfare state and its financial unsustainability. This is quite understandable. Their beliefs about social fairness are deeply held but seldom subjected to rational debate. The following q

If we work, rest and pray solely with friends who live in the same neighbourhood, we develop fears and prejudices about outsiders. But if we develop multiple associations, if we mix with people from different backgrounds, we soon realise that they too are all right. Our prejudices dissipate. It is one hundred and fifty years since General Sherman burnt Atlanta and the American Civil War ended. Over a million lives had been lost and the Southern economy was devastated. Abe Lin

Eighty per cent of Australian households now receive more in government benefits than they pay in income tax. Now that the majority of...

Noel Pearson Noel Pearson is admired as one of Australia’s great political leaders and thinkers. Last week, he released a 165-page document Empowered Communities: Empowered Peoples recommending radical changes to government policies for Indigenous Australians. Instead of policies being determined by bureaucrats in our capital cities and delivered by a largely non-indigenous support industry, the report calls for the decision making and its execution to be devolved to empow

Many works by the great Australian sculptor Geoffrey Bartlett juxtapose contrasting elements in surprising ways, delighting the senses and challenging the intellect. Likewise, I wish to surprise you with the proposition that the apparent evils of capitalism are the consequences of the principles of the social democratic welfare state. Many modern business corporations do not, in fact, operate in the free market. They use government intervention to provide subsidies, inhib

At the first suggestion that minimum wages and penalty rates might be subject to review by the Productivity Commission, the ACTU hit the airwaves and the streets to defend their hard won rights. Rights that had been won by physical, economic and political coercion were not to be trammeled by rational debate; the proposals were offensive. Economics journalist, Peter Martin wrote that there was no evidence to support the contention that minimum wages had a negative impact on e

We shall not be free if we are not compassionate. We should always be ready to assist those experiencing hardships, particularly unanticipated ones such as the loss of a job or a death in the family. We should want to provide ways to help those suffering from trauma or mental or chronic health problems. Our current welfare systems do not work well. The following article from an Australian Community Health brochure describes the practical difficulties: We have a problem in

Throughout the Western World, the Welfare State has been exposed as economically unsustainable. The regulatory and coercive powers of the State have been captured by sectional interests for their own economic benefit. The state has become pervasive in our lives. We have lost the belief that we can do things ourselves. We live with the peculiar notion that if we cannot afford some desired service, it should be provided by the government. Government spending expands as