Attitudes that hold us back

Dear ,

Our next two speakers are in some ways addressing the same subject. When labour leaders want to demonise a particular work practice they often use the benign term of "wage slavery" or the more sinister "modern slavery".

Slavery was, and as it still occurs in some places, is, an inhuman practice where one human being owns another, like you own your pet. It's the historical moment when our attitude to slavery changed that Tony Abbott will address at our Emancipation Day breakfast on August 1. To book click here.

But contract work, sometimes known as the "gig economy", rather than enslaving, is liberating. It has also been part of the secret of our recent economic success because people can find work that suits them when it suits them. What Sally McManus calls "insecure work" most workers call "flexibility".

Our speaker next Thursday, Matt Barrie, is one of the pioneers of the "gig economy" and will anlayse the Australian economy using his practical business insights. To book click here.

And the thread that holds them both together? It's not really about slavery, but about freedom. Societies where individuals can make up their own minds who they work for are the ones with the highest economic outcomes, and the happiest people. Yet there is a persisting human urge to try to force other people to do what you want them to do, not what they want to do. That attitude holds us back.

It's a pity you missed our function this week - The Energy transition and coal: lessons from Germany.. We packed out a room at Tattersall's with over 100 people to hear Lars Schernikau draw comparisons between Germany's energy present, and the energy future Australia will face if it continues on the current path.

You can get a sense of what you missed by listening to him on Brisbane ABC with Steve Austin by clicking here and move the slider around one hour ten minutes along and/or listening to him with 4GB's Ben Fordham here.

This week it was great to meet so many people who are concerned about where our electricity generation system is heading, and I hope they will be repeating some of Lars' strong messages to family, friends and colleagues. I wish you had been there.

The message from Lars that resonated most strongly with me was that "Energy is life", which is similar to my observation that there is a straight line relationship between energy consumption and civilisation.

The details for our next two functions with Matt Barrie, and Tony Abbott are:

• Put another Aussie on the barbie - Matt Barrie, entrepreneur and public intellectual. The founder of Freelancer, an assignments marketplace with 70 million registered users, Matt was also named "Libertarian of the Year" in 2019. This function is on next Thursday, July 18, at 6:00 for 6:30 pm. To book click here.
  

• Emancipation Day Breakfast - Tony Abbott, former prime minister of Australia, and a strong champion of the virtues of liberal democracy. Emancipation Day commemorates the date when the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in the UK parliament and marks one of the first times when human equality came to be viewed as a universal value. This function is Thursday August 1, at 7:00 for 7:30 am. To book click here.
  

Look forward to seeing you again soon.

Kind regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR