Menzies Research Centre

Australia has benefitted greatly from the two-way trans-Tasman trade in policy ideas in the last 40 years. In the early 1980s, a New Zealand Labour government led by David Lange and his remarkable treasurer Roger Douglas introduced deregulatory economic reforms later adopted by the Hawke government.Thirty years later, the incremental reforms and philosophical clarity of the National Party governments of John Key and Bill English inspired some of the successful policy initiatives of the Abbott government, notably in welfare policy.Does the evident warmth between Anthony Albanese and NZ PM Jacinda Ardern signal a meeting of minds on domestic policy? And if so, how scared should we be? NZ is after all the most woke jurisdiction in the Southern Hemisphere and its economy is officially going backwards.In this Watercooler Conversation held live before an audience in Sydney, Nick Cater and Oliver Hartwich weigh up the threat of contagion from sub-prime Kiwi policy in Australia.Oliver Hartwich is Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. Subscribe to his weekly newsletter here: https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/Nick Cater is Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre.Subscribe to the MRC's Watercooler News for free: https://www.menziesrc.org/mailing-list Support these podcasts by becoming a premium subscriber from just $10 a month: https://www.menziesrc.org/subscribe1 Email Nick Cater: watercooler@menziesrc.org

John Howard experienced both the highs and lows of politics during 33 years in Parliament, 14 of which were in Opposition.In this Watercooler Conversation with Nick Cater, Australia's second longest-serving prime minister draws lessons from the Liberal Party's 2022 election defeat and urges unity and a focus on Liberal principles and policy.Email Nick Cater watercooler@menziesrc.orgSupport these podcasts by becoming a premium subscriber from just $10 a month: www.menziesrc.org/subscribeNick Cater is executive director of Menzies Research Centre

The Liberal Party has been ejected from government in Canberra on only four occasions. Paul Kelly has reported on all four, starting with the It's Time election of 1972 through to the defeat of Scott Morrison's government at the May 2022 federal election.In this Watercooler conversation with Nick Cater he draws from the lessons of history to assess the latest defeat and warns of the mistakes the party must avoid in opposition.Paul Kelly is The Australian's Editor at Large.Nick Cater is Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre and a columnist with The AustralianWrite to Nick Cater: watercooler@menziesrc.orgSupport these podcasts by becoming a Menzies Research Centre subscriber from just $10 a month www.menziesrc.org/subscribe Make a tax deductible donation to the Menzies Research Centre www.menziesrc.org/donate

The question, “What is a woman?” has become the barbecue stopper of the 2022 election, thanks in part to the pre-selection of a courageous and outspoken candidate in the seat of Warringah in Northern Sydney. Katherine Deves’ campaign for the rights of biological females not to compete against transgender women in sport has generated a level of media coverage that most candidates could only dream of. The price she has paid, however, is to be subjected to a vicious and intimidating attack which would have driven others into hiding. The mainstream media, by and large, has joined the pile-on, condemning her views as unconscionable and her candidacy dead.  None of her critics, and sadly all too few of the journalists who have written about Katherine, have taken the trouble to actually listen to what she is saying. Deves joins Nick Cater for a Watercooler Conversation aimed at correcting that imbalance. She speaks candidly about her experiences on the campaign trail and why she is putting her head above the parapet to fight for the rights of women and girls.

Mick Mulvaney describes the sledgehammer approach to Covid-19 that shut down global economies for months as one of the biggest mistakes of the 21st Century.Mulvaney was President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff when the pandemic hit. He says the withholding of information by China and the poor advice Trump was receiving from key advisors including Dr Anthony Fauchi led the US to over-react with economic intervention which set the pattern for other countries around the world.“I think it will go down as one of the worst mistakes of the 21st century,” Mulvaney told Nick Cater in a Menzies Research Centre podcast. “I hope we don’t make any bigger mistakes than that. “You can’t beat a virus into submission. You can’t bully it into going away. We’ll be paying the price for this literally for generations.”In a wide-ranging and candid conversation with Nick Cater of the Menzies Research Centre, Mulvaney shares insights into the Trump White House and explains what led him to resign on January 6, 2021, the day of the Capital Hill riots.Contact Nick Cater: watercooler@menziesrc.orgSupport these podcasts by subscribing to the Menzies Research Centre from just $10 a week:www.menziesrc.org/subscribe

Malcolm Fraser led a Liberal Party Government for seven years and 122 days. When he lost to Bob Hawke at 1983 election, no prime minister except Robert Menzies had occupied the job for longer.Yet his reputation has been overshadowed by the controversy about the way he came power and quarrels with his own party after leaving it. Six years after his death, a fresh appraisal is long overdue, one unclouded or the dismissal of Gough Whitlam that put in into government by the political arguments in his post-parliamentary years. Dennis White worked for Fraser in his final term. He has set out to put the record straight in a monograph: Fraser in Office. White joins Menzies Research Centre Executive Director Nick Cater for this Watercooler ConversationOrder Fraser in Office by Denis White: https://www.menziesrc.org/book-shop/fraser-in-officeSupport these podcasts by subscribing to the Menzies Research Centre from just $10 a week: https://www.menziesrc.org/subscribeEmail Nick Cater: watercooler@menziesrc.orgAbout Fraser in Office: Fraser in Office is a long-overdue reappraisal of Australia’s 22nd Prime Minister. It examines Malcolm Fraser’s prime ministership in historical context, recognising the challenge of restoring good government after the Whitlam years. Unclouded by later political disputes and separated from the extraordinary manner by which he entered office, Fraser emerges as a leader of considerable substance.Author: Denis WhiteForeword: David KempJeparit Press (an imprint of Connor Court Publishing and The Menzies Research Centre)Paperback, 104 pages, $24.95

Benny Peiser has been following the climate policy debate for more than a century. In this Watercooler Conversation, he joins Nick Cater to discuss how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed Europe’s chronic energy insecurity and reframed the climate policy debate.Europe is dealing with a full-blown energy crisis, forcing western nations to rethink what practical action can be taken to combat climate change.The problems with relying too heavily on wind and solar have become all too apparent. Domestic electricity bills in Britain are rising by 50 per cent a year. And German industry is warning it cannot survive projected high energy prices and threats to the stability of supply.As European nations look for ways to replace their heavy reliance on Russian gas, oil and coal, the spotlight is thrown on Australia, one of the most energy rich countries in the world.Should we not be looking urgently at how we can increase our production of coal, gas and other energy sources to help the West resist Russian tyranny?Benny Peiser is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London.Nick Cater is Executive Director of the Menzies Research CentreSupport these podcasts by becoming a financial subscriber to the Menzies Research Centre from just $10 a month. www.menziesrc.org/subscribeEmail Nick Cater: watercooler@menziesrc.org

It might seem strange to be debating the question of what is a woman in an election campaign in which so much is at stake. But the controversy over the choice of a Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Warringah has turned this into one of barbecue-stoppers of the election so far.The rising cost of living and health concerns arising from the pandemic will be crucial issues in deciding this election, as will Australia’s response to rising threats to global stability, in Europe and the Pacific.But in this podcast, Nick Cater argues that stakes in the transgender debate are so profound we cannot ignore them.Brendan O’Neill, chief political correspondent of Spiked, joins Nick Cater for this discussion originally recorded for The Six O'Clock Swill podcast.Nick Cater is Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre.Listen to the Six O'Clock Swill on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/six-oclock-swill/id1584770983Support these podcasts by subscribing to the Menzies Research Centre from just $10 a month: www.menziesrc.org/subscribeEmail Nick Cater: watercooler@menziesrc.org

The peaceful, western-dominated world order - secured by the victors in world War 2 and an incalculable cost - is showing signs of fraying. Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Communist China’s global ambitions may have already propelled us into a new era of global strategic conflict - what is at stake is nothing less than the cultural and strategic dominance of Eurasia and the Pacific and possibly the world.
In this Watercooler Conversation, John Anderson and Nick Cater ask if today’s Australians, Brits, Canadians and Americans ready for what lies ahead. Will they find the courage - if it is needed - to stand up in the defence of their country?Or has the decline in values - and possibly character - turned the West into a force that lacks the will to defend itself?John Anderson was Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals Party from 1999 to 2005. He hosts Conversations on YouTube and podcast. https://johnanderson.net.au/conversations-with-john/Nick Cater is Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre. He hosts Watercooler podcasts and co-hosts The Six O'Clock Swill with Tim Blair.Cater writes weekly for The AustralianEmail Nick: watercooler@menzesrc.orgSubscribe for free to Watercooler News, delivered to your inbox every Saturday https://www.menziesrc.org/emailSupport this podcast by subscribing to the Menzies Research Centre from just $10 a month https://www.menziesrc.org/subscribe1

Australia’s universities are in trouble. A decade or more of chasing revenue from foreign students has changed the character of universities and left them vulnerable to external disruption like the Covid-19 border bans.The rankings system with which rewards research citations more highly than the quality of teaching has distorted the allocation of resources and turned academic research into exercise in citation harvesting.Universities have become top-heavy in administration leading to untold frustration from students and teaching staff.And to top it all, universities are responsible for the lab leak that allowed the culturally destructive virus commonly known as woke to escape into the community.Are our institutes of higher learning broken beyond repair? Should they be abandoned in favour of other sources of epistemological excellence less remote from the community?That’s the question Salvatore Babones sets out to answer in his new book, Australia’s Universities: Can They Reform? He joins Menzies Research Centre Executive Director for this discussion recorded in February 2022Salvatore Babones has a background in sociology. He has a PhD and Master of Science in applied mathematics at John Hopkins University and is currently an associate professor at the University of Sydney and an adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies.He authored a 2019 paper for the CIS: The China Student Boom and the Risks it Poses to Australian Universities.His latest book, Australia's Universities: Can They Reform? is published by Ocean Reeve Publishing https://www.oceanreevepublishing.com/product/australias-universities-can-they-reform/Email Nick Cater watercooler@menziesrc.orgSupport these podcasts by subscribing to the Menzies Research Centre from just $10 a month: www.menziesrc.org/subscribe