Campaigns and activities

Dear ,

I wanted to talk to you about three project that I have underway at the moment before you take a break over Easter.

Israel Folau

Folau is a superb footballer, having played all three oval ball codes in Australia with distinction. He is currently the most-capped Rugby player in the team, yet is facing expulsion because of a Bible quote he posted to Instagram.

The quote said: “Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolaters, Hell Awaits You: Repent!” which is a paraphrase of Galations 5:19-21.

The issue isn’t whether any of us agrees with his views, but whether he has a right to express them. Rugby Australia says he’s broken his contract, which makes me ask “Since when was it right to draw up a contract depriving someone of the right to express a religious opinion?”

­­When we started this think tank many of you told me that free speech was the most important issue. You were right. Without free speech, and the possibility of offending people, you can’t actually think clearly. Without clear thought a civilisation will perish.

So I’m making a stand on Izzy and we’ve posted a petition which I would urge you to sign by clicking here. Please spread the link out among your networks as well.

Western Civilisation

In my last newsletter, right at the end, I mentioned that Ralph Bowles and I were putting together a committee to look at how we might encourage the study of Western Civilisation and great books. The idea is to start with a short course which would be a bit like a book club, but with a paid tutor with real expertise in the area.

There was some interest, but I gather most people didn’t see the item, so I’m putting it out there again.

It seems to me that we have to take a leaf from Jordan Peterson, and reach out beyond universities, to people who are hungry for knowledge of their own culture. If you agree, and want to be involved, please email me graham.young@onlineopinion.com.au.

Polling and the federal election

I’ve just launched my first poll for this federal election. I know that some members of the AIP participate, but a lot don’t. If you are interested in being part of Australia’s longest running qualitative survey of voting intentions (started in 2001), please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LWMG7ND.

Don’t worry about skewing the results as I control for voting intention using Newspoll figures before looking at the sample. The purpose of the polling is to understand why people are voting the way they are, not how many are voting for each candidate. You will add to the richness of the response without biasing it in anyway.

Spending on education

Didn’t take long for the fake news to appear. First appearance I saw was an Australian Education Union ad claiming the government had slashed funding for education. As the graph below shows that is not true. The only thing that has been slashed is performance, and guess who is responsible for that.

Wishing you the best for Easter.

Regards,

Graham Young
Executive Director