Thanks for your contribution to a great educational lunch

Dear ,

Thanks for your contribution to our defence lunch yesterday. It was a really great function, and my only regret is that there weren't more people there to hear Adam's presentation. Defence is an important subject for us at the AIP as the climate has never been worse since just before World War II. We intend to continue to offer information in this area, and we all need to pressure our politicians and convince them there are actually votes in defence.

I'd also like to personally thank the 4 people who signed-up as members yesterday. The more members we have, the more seriously policy makers will treat our policy papers and statements. I've even been asked about the size of our membership when making submissions to parliamentary committees. If you're not a member, I'd encourage you to join. You can do that by clicking here. We've set a target of 1,000 members within 12 months. We currently sit around 200, so we need to sign-up around 2 members every day.

Adam said he would make his slides available, and he is a man of his word. You can download them by clicking on this link. I hope you put them to good use with friends and family.

I have some work to do to put up details of future functions but can I urge you to put date claimers in your diaries for:

• Emancipation Day August 1. Hon Tony Abbott AC will be the guest speaker. This event celebrates the day the United Kingdom decided that human rights were universal and abolished slavery - a gift they bequeathed to the world. When people ask you "What has the British Empire ever done for us?" you know what to say.
  
• July 9 Lars Schernikau, international energy expert from Germany, will be in Brisbane to talk about all things energy. This will be a cocktail style function with a sit down discussion.
  
• July 17 or 18 (specific date to be decided) Matt Barrie, founder of Freelancer, will deliver a talk on "Put another Aussie on the Barbie" which will be a critical review of the Australian economy. Another evening function.
  
• September 16, a celebration and retrospective of Papua independence with former Prime Minister Peter O'Neill