We have a lot of functions planned for this half of the year, with more to come

Dear ,

I’ve had a lot of enquiries as to when our next function is going to be. A fair call because we haven’t done much this year, mostly because we were preoccupied with federal elections.

First we were campaigning (and thanks to those who donated), then after the election, I thought it best to put some effort into analysing what actually happened. All sorts of people will be coming up with theories not just about what happened, but about what should be done next time. The risk is that much of this analysis will be self-serving and wrong, but if it gets a hold it could well dictate what happens in the next election.

But this email is not about elections, but what is going to happen for the rest of the year.

Emancipation Day

So, first a reminder that our Emancipation Day breakfast will be held this August 1 at Tattersall’s, with guest speaker Professor Judith Sloan. Cost for AIP members is $65 which includes a hot breakfast, fruit and pastries, as well as a scintillating and thought-provoking speech and the opportunity to network with like-minded people. To book for our Emancipation Day breakfast click here.

McIlwraith Lecture

Our guest lecturer for the McIlwraith Lecture will be Steve Baxter. If you haven’t heard of Steve, you should have. He exemplifies everything the McIlwraith Lecture is about. He’s an outstanding tech entrepreneur, who is also a huge contributor to this state.

Details for venue and cost are still being finalized, but the date is firm – Wednesday October 27, 2025. So write it in your diary now. As we have done with previous McIlwraiths we will be looking for people prepared to pay for students to attend. The purpose of the McIlwraith is to celebrate the values we champion, and those who exemplify them. Adding students to the audience mix is an important part of our outreach. (Let me know by email if you can  help).

Protecting Children in Gender Medicine

This is not actually one of our functions, but a seminar run by our friends at the Australian Medical Professionals Association and the Nurses Professional Association of Australia featuring Dr Jillian Spencer who was suspended by the Royal Children’s Hospital for advocating clinical caution when dealing with gender dysphoria in children.

Date is Wednesday July 30, at 6:00 pm. To book click here. I will be participating as a speaker and the MC.

The affirmation model, whereby a professional is supposed to affirm a child’s wish to transition, is, as far as I know, unique in medicine in that it involves the patient, not the doctor, diagnosing the disease and then proposing the solution, with the doctor just a passenger in the whole process. Informed consent is the standard of care that we should all receive. Children are generally legally limited in what they can consent to, and the consent can’t be informed if the doctor is unable to probe and ask questions.

What’s the use of climate models?

Kesten Green is not a climate scientist, but he is an expert on forecasting, which is partly why his latest paper, published along with Willie Soon, is persuasive when it finds the CO2-driven models over-estimate temperature increase.

“Are Climate Model Forecasts Useful for Policy Making? Effect of Variable Choice on Reliability and Predictive Validity” was published in May this year so is hot off the presses.

Kesten will be our guest for lunch on Tuesday August 19. Again, this is a date claimer. Price and venue will follow, but I am planning to do this as a seminar with a light lunch, so at a lower price point than our sit-down lunches.

Defence lunch

We have a tentative date of September 17 for a sit-down lunch with Peter Jennings. Defence should have been an issue in the last election, but there is a good chance it will be at the next one (President Xi has mooted 2027 as the date when he will invade Taiwan, so 2028 could actually be a year of war). You will probably be familiar with Peter from his writings in The Australian, however you may not be aware of his earlier roles in defence, starting in 1996 as chief of staff to the minister for defence.

As you can see we are making up for a slow first half. There are other functions in the works, and I will let you know when they are happening.

Look forward to seeing you at one of them.

Kind regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR PROGRESS