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Our records show you haven't renewed your membershipDear , 2020 is the year that the AIP came of age, and we need your continued support as it continues to mature into the future. I noticed that according to our database you haven’t renewed your membership, so I thought I’d remind you about the year that we’ve had and encourage you to renew before New Year. Think of it as a Christmas present to yourself by supporting more action for the right causes in 2021. (If our records are wrong, please let me know so I can fix them up. We’ve moved to a new system that should be better than the old system, but everything online seems to have at least one glitch relating to at least one record.) When we established the AIP we decided to concentrate on Queensland, and to advocate for practical solutions to real problems based on solid principles. Free speech and property rights are particularly important to us. Free speech is why we prosecuted the case against the Electoral Commission of Queensland and in favour of property developers’ right to donate to political parties. This cost us $40,000 in legal costs but it was well worth it. We clarified the law, expanding the commission’s interpretation so that property developers can participate in the political process, including by donating to organisations like ours for research which may form the basis for advocacy. This is a fight our MLAs should have been prepared to have, but they didn’t – which is why you need organisations like ours who are prepared to lean against public opinion, not bend with it. Property rights is the reason we ran a campaign against the laws rammed through the state parliament by Labor which, unique among the states, forced private landlords to decrease (not just defer) the rent for tenants affected by COVID without any compensation from the government. Another principle we support is that the government ought to be viewed as a trustee for the taxpayer, and while we have no objection to just taxation, we do object to high taxes, or taxes which are inefficiently or inequitably levied, or which are wasted. So we’ve pursued the waste in renewable energies policy, spending on vanity projects, like Cross River Rail in Brisbane, and waste and maladministration in the state budget. The culmination of this activity was our campaign in the state election where we bought billboard space in critical electorates to push the message that Queensland needs better economic leadership. We also took a leadership role in the response to COVID, coordinating a group of academics and intellectuals who urged an evidence-based approach to COVID which took account of all the health and other costs. Your $100 a year helps to make this advocacy possible as well as building a foundation for more in the future. Please click here to renew for 12 months. Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.. 
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