Free to Speak, Free to Believe, Free to Work

Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of opinion are essential to democracy and human progress.

Recognised in international treaties that Australia has signed, these freedoms enable the search for truth. Without them, individuals cannot reach their full potential. More freedom, more potential.

Australians—not politicians, bureaucrats, or regulators—own our language. We delegate to governments the power to protect us from harm, not the power to shield us from offence. Being offended is the price of liberty. Regulating hurt feelings differs fundamentally from prohibiting incitement to violence.

‘Hate speech’ has become the cause de rigueur. It is a term designed to obscure the real issue.

No one, of course, should be rude or insulting, but should rudeness be criminalised? Of course not.

Tolerance has also become one-sided: conform or be silenced.

In the name of ‘acceptance’, an anti-freedom culture threatens individual rights and voluntary associations. History shows repression of speech, without fail, leads to tyranny.

Free to Believe

Without free speech, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, truth-seeking dies.

Western democracy rests on Christian foundations and the family—precisely why Marx and Engels sought to undermine both. They viewed faith and family as rivals to the state – independent sources of moral authority that resisted central control.

People resent being dictated to about their faith, morals, or what they teach their children. They reject being labelled bigots or homophobes.

The Left’s calls for ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ mask their contempt for religious people. What they demand is not debate, but state-enforced conformity—celebration of their worldview.

True freedom includes parents’ right to raise children in line with their convictions, as affirmed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The State’s role is to protect freedom of conscience and religious practice, not override it.

The assault on freedoms is broadening: targeting churches, faith-based schools, farms, mines, cars, children, the elderly (via euthanasia), the unborn (via extreme abortion laws), teenagers (via drug liberalisation), and even cultural markers like Christmas and Anzac Day.

Faith-based organisations—schools, hospitals, charities—should not depend on precarious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. They must be permitted to freely select staff according to faith – just as political parties select for ideology; environmental groups for climate views; women’s shelters for gender – or even chess clubs and the like. Saying you can only become a member of a chess club if you play chess is not discriminating against people who don’t play chess!

Faith matters in faith-based settings. Forcing religious schools to mirror secular ones is senseless—no one is compelled to join or attend them. Expressions of faith must be lawful by right, not temporary exemption.

Religious freedom should be pre-eminent, overriding state and territory anti-discrimination laws via Commonwealth legislation. Human Rights Commissions should have no role.

Free to Work

Work carries dignity, even sanctity. The Hebrew word for work and worship is the same—Avodah. Denying work is like denying worship. As Calvin Coolidge said, “He who builds a factory builds a temple; he who works there worships there.”

Excluding people—especially youth—from work brings massive social costs: crime, substance abuse, depression, family breakdown, even suicide. Young people are locked out of the labour market precisely when ready for independence, relationships, and family.

It is both morally wrong and economically foolish.

For example, a single JobSeeker recipient gets about $400 a week. The minimum wage is $900 a week — a $500 a week gap!

Volunteering to work for no pay is praised, yet being paid any amount below the minimum is banned. It is absurd.

These barriers hit hardest the low-skilled, disadvantaged, or unconnected.

Penalty rates block entry-level jobs: someone willing to work for $20/hour (far above welfare) is not permitted to if the weekend rate is $40/hour. The job vanishes, the business closes, and customers lose.

The solution: let people own their labour. No one should be barred from working on terms that suit them.

If workers want awards, minimums, and unfair-dismissal protections, fine, but ‘opting-out’ should also be allowed.

Past reforms like WorkChoices failed by over-regulating. A simple opting-out from the more than 1,000 pages of workplace regulations would suffice — workers can choose regulation or they can choose freedom.

Mandated ‘accords’ among politicians, unions, and executives demean those who know their circumstances best. Individuals should be permitted to decide for themselves the value of their labour.

High earnings and entry-level opportunities are not un-related. Many successes began modestly yet often these high earners are the ones who support barriers against others!

Regulated workplaces are effectively prisons. One can marry, drive, vote, fight, drink, smoke—but not work on one’s own terms.

Youth unemployment exceeds 20% in some areas. The nation’s productivity would improve if the unemployed were freed. Let them opt out of the industrial framework.

Disruptors like Uber, AirBnB, and DoorDash thrive by letting people work on their terms.

Prosperity depends on low entry barriers—jobs, homes, businesses, even political parties. As we know all too well, industry incumbents unite against new entrants who challenge them. It is that sort of opposition that stifles dynamism.

We need to reclaim our freedoms: free to speak, free to believe, and free to work.