Peter Francis Fenwick

It was six o’clock on a winter’s night in Melbourne. I entered the Trades Hall and climbed the stairs. The bluestone steps were worn...

Last April, Jill and I participated in an ASA Literary tour of the Southern States of the USA with 24 other Australians. The party was led by Susannah Fullerton who is famous for her work on Jane Austen. We were introduced to many southern writers, saw the homes where they lived and the places and the cultures they had written about. There were writers we were familiar with such as John Berendt , Margaret Mitchell, Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, Joel Chandler Harri

I exhort the politicians and bureaucrats of Europe to think again, to do better. The proposed Greek bailout entails too much intervention...

The dominant political doctrines of the 20th century failed us economically, socially and morally. The beneficiaries of the welfare state have not been the poor and the disadvantaged; they have been those with influence who can capture and manipulate the system. It is hard to imagine an ethic better suited to undermining the moral basis of a free society. [Yuval Levin] The ethics of liberty on the other hand are based on the principle of private property and founded on n

A report in The Age, on Tuesday 30th June 2015, claims that the Liberal Party’s fund raising processes have been infiltrated by the Mafia to gain access to politicians and favourable decisions by ministers in relation to a visa for a gangland boss. The immediate response has been to call for tighter controls over political donations. This however would have serious consequences in a liberal democracy. It would not stop the problem. Those wishing to influence political deci

When Vaclav Havel died in 2011, tens of thousands of Czech citizens paid their respects. It is rare for a politician to be so loved. Havel was a man of great integrity who spent his life “living the truth” in a society that was “living a lie”. Nearly a year has passed since I wrote the following text which become part of the back cover for my book The Fragility of Freedom: Why Subsidiarity Matters. “…the coercive and regularity powers of the state have been captured by s

My mother's generation understood the virtue of thrift, and they knew the importance of saving and investment.

In Australia, over the past fifty years, average household income, in constant prices, more than doubled. We live in one of the freest...

New laws are proposed to strip citizenship from those who oppose our principles and our way of life – specifically those who go overseas and fight for ISIS. This gives us pause for thought. What do we believe in? What are the characteristics that define what it is to be Australian? To what extent might one hold different views but still remain a citizen? If we define clearly what is required of an Australian citizen, might this impact our immigration policy? Australia’

Last week, in response to a suggestion that an independent body be established to evaluate infrastructure projects, the Treasurer, Joe Hockey said, “ The thing I’m always wary of is setting up a new independent body…where you just give them money and they determine where the money goes, because ultimately, as a person elected by the people of Australia, I’m accountable for that.” “ If you set up a body that has no accountability – none – no shareholders, no elections, no no

It is important to realise and accept that opposing and irreconcilable religious, philosophical, and moral views can be reasonably held.

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