Centre for Independent Studies

Daniel Hannan - Speech to the CIS’s 2018 JBL Gala Dinner | Events at CIS

The vision of the John Bonython Lecture is to inspire Australians to advance principles that constitute a Free Society -- to promote free choice, individual liberty, defend cultural freedom, and the open exchange of ideas. This year's lecture was no different, as we welcomed Daniel Hannan to take the stage which has previously showcased Francis Fukuyama, Rupert Murdoch and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Daniel Hannan is a leading British writer and journalist. After 17 years as a Member of the European Parliament, campaigning for British withdrawal from the EU, he succeeded in abolishing his job in the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016. Author of nine books, including New York Times bestseller Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Western World and Sunday Times bestseller Vote Leave. His latest is What Next: How to get the best from Brexit.
Follow the CIS on Twitter @CISOZ or find us on Facebook 'The Centre for Independent Studies' for more updates.
cis.org.au

Daniel Hannan - Conversation to the CIS’s 2018 JBL Gala Dinner | Events at CIS

The vision of the John Bonython Lecture is to inspire Australians to advance principles that constitute a Free Society -- to promote free choice, individual liberty, defend cultural freedom, and the open exchange of ideas. This year's lecture was no different, as we welcomed Daniel Hannan to take the stage which has previously showcased Francis Fukuyama, Rupert Murdoch and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Daniel Hannan is a leading British writer and journalist. After 17 years as a Member of the European Parliament, campaigning for British withdrawal from the EU, he succeeded in abolishing his job in the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016. Author of nine books, including New York Times bestseller Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Western World and Sunday Times bestseller Vote Leave. His latest is What Next: How to get the best from Brexit.
Follow the CIS on Twitter @CISOZ or find us on Facebook 'The Centre for Independent Studies' for more updates.
cis.org.au

The Manchurian Campus? Threats to Free Speech in Higher Education | Rob Stokes MP | Events at CIS

Amidst the debate about Chinese influence in Australia, NSW Minister for Education, the Hon. Rob Stokes MP, sat down with CIS Executive Director, Tom Switzer to discuss a range of issues that are crucial to the future of free speech in Australian universities.
Most discussion of threats to free speech in Australian universities focuses on the impact of identity politics and political correctness.
Yet a bigger threat to free speech on Australian campuses may be the heavy reliance of the multi-billion-dollar higher education sector on fee-paying international students — especially from China.
How do universities pursue their commercial objectives without compromising academic freedom? How do we deal with an increasingly assertive Chinese Government willing to flex its economic power and international muscle?
Follow the CIS on Twitter @CISOZ or find us on Facebook 'The Centre for Independent Studies' for more updates.
cis.org.au

James Bartholomew on Millennials’ ignorance of Communism | Events at CIS

There is a natural impulse in people to bring the rich and powerful down - to create equality and a better, more decent society. The impulse was drowned out for the latter part of the 20th century by knowledge in the West of how horribly wrong the Communist experiments had gone. However, new generations are growing up knowing little or nothing about what happened. They have no intellectual defence against the apparent idealism of Marxist thought and are increasingly tempted to accept it.
James Bartholomew is columnist and former editorial writer for the Daily Telegraph in London. He also worked for the Financial Times and the Far Eastern Economic Review, in Hong Kong and Tokyo. He is author of The Welfare of Nations. He coined the term “virtue signalling” in The Spectator in 2015.
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
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Does Inequality Matter? | Conversations at CIS

A recent Productivity Commission report, Rising Inequality? A stocktake of the evidence, shows that although inequality has risen, Australia retains a high degree of economic mobility.
With that, our panel - Jonathan Coppel, Melinda Cilento, Simon Cowan and Robert Carling - thrashed out the issues and sought to answer the question: Does inequality matter?
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
Join the CIS as a member at - https://www.cis.org.au/join-cis/
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Australia, Brexit, and Populism | Andrew Neil | Events at CIS

Andrew Neil is the presenter of Daily Politics, This Week (the BBC’s leading political television shows), and is recognised as one of Britain’s most distinguished broadcasters and political journalists.
Join Andrew Neil in conversation with CIS executive director Tom Switzer, about the state of politics in Australia, where political instability isn't really that bad, about the political landscape in Britain and how the prospect of a no deal Brexit is looming closer.
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
Join the CIS as a member at - https://www.cis.org.au/join-cis/
Follow CIS on Socials
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CISOZ
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies/?viewAsMember=true

Tony Abbott on the state of Australia’s political landscape | Conversations at CIS

Tumultuous events in Canberra during the course of the last week, led to a change of Prime Ministers.
Join Tony Abbott as he delivers his views on the current state of the Liberal Party, the potential of the new government announced and a broader discussion on the state of Australia’s political landscape.
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
Join the CIS as a member at - https://www.cis.org.au/join-cis/
Follow CIS on Socials
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CISOZ
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies/?viewAsMember=true

Have We All Gone Mad? The Snowflake Epidemic | Events at CIS

University campuses throughout the West are in the grip of a troubling social phenomenon, now in danger of spreading beyond the ivy walls. Once bastions of intellectual rigour and freedom of thought, universities have become closed-minded and self-censoring, pandering to what appear from the outside to be ridiculously heightened sensitivities and undeserved entitlement.
Safe spaces, trigger warnings and counselling on demand have become commonplace. Teaching staff who speak out are being intimidated, silenced and vilified. Students who choose to think against the mainstream are harassed and ostracised. Has normal teenage angst been institutionally mollycoddled and even pathologised?
Join Dr Tiffany Jenkins author, Keeping their Marbles, Claire Lehmann Founder & Editor of Quillette, Professor Steven Schwartz AM Senior Fellow, The Centre for Independent Studies and Lindsay Shepherd Graduate, Wilfrid Laurier University, for a robust debate.
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
Join the CIS as a member at - https://www.cis.org.au/join-cis/
Follow CIS on Socials
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CISOZ
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies/?viewAsMember=true

Greg Sheridan: A Conversation About God | Conversations at CIS

Conversation with The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan and CIS senior research fellow Peter Kurti on the intellectual, historical and cultural case for belief in God.
Australia and many parts of the West are losing faith in God. And yet the Judeo-Christian tradition has created and underpinned the moral and legal fabric of Western Civilisation.
Where the moral certainties that underpin Australia’s institutions and laws are no longer held by the majority, we – both the believers and non-believers – find ourselves in a fraught situation.
In his new book, God Is Good For You (Allen & Unwin), Greg Sheridan sets out how modern Christians have never worked so hard to make the world a better place at a time when their faith has never been less valued.
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
Join the CIS as a member at - https://www.cis.org.au/join-cis/
Follow CIS on Socials
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CISOZ
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies/?viewAsMember=true

John Howard at the CIS: A Conversation On Culture with Tom Switzer & Jeremy Sammut | Events at CIS

Conversation with former Prime Minister John Howard and CIS executive director Tom Switzer on the threats to Australia’s core cultural institutions and beliefs.
Australia is still a free country, but our politically correct times are such that many serious subjects cannot be discussed openly without inspiring condemnation from what John Howard once called “self-appointed cultural dieticians.”
Some of the most enthusiastic proponents of suppressing dissenting opinions come from a younger demographic that has little understanding of history and its lessons.
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The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) promotes free choice and individual liberty, and defends cultural freedom and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can continue to prosper into the future.
Check out the CIS at - https://www.cis.org.au/
Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
Join the CIS as a member at - https://www.cis.org.au/join-cis/
Follow CIS on Socials
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CISOZ
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies/?viewAsMember=true