Institute of Public Affairs

This article is about an Australian free-market think tank. For the Polish think tank, see Institute of Public Affairs, Poland. For the Chilean institute, see Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Chile.

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The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a public policy think tank^[1] based in Melbourne, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation and deregulated workplaces, climate change skepticism (through its environmental subsidiary the Australian Environment Foundation), and the accountability of non-government organisations (NGOs).^{[citation needed]} In its own words, the Institute believes in "the free market of ideas, the free flow of capital, a limited and efficient government, the rule of law, and representative democracy."^[2]

History

The IPA was founded in the early 1940s, partly in response to the collapse of Australia's main conservative party, the United Australia Party.^{[original research?]} The IPA was one of a number of groups which came together to form the Liberal Party of Australia, and became an important fund raising body for the Liberal Party in Victoria.^[3] The IPA returned to prominence as a thinktank in the 1990s, following a merger with the Australian Institute of Public Policy, headed by John Hyde who became Executive Director.^{[citation needed]}

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Funding

The IPA funded by its membership which include both private individuals and businesses. Among these businesses are ExxonMobil,^[4]Telstra, WMC Resources, BHP Billiton, Phillip Morris,^[5] Murray Irrigation Limited,^[6] and Visy Industries.

IPA donors have also included Clough Engineering, Caltex, Shell and Esso.^[7] Other donors were electricity and mining companies, as well as British American Tobacco (BAT).^[7]

In 2003, the Australian Government paid $50,000 to the Institute of Public Affairs to review the accountability of NGOs.^[8]^{[not in citation given]}

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Political links

The Institute has close ideological and political affinities with the Liberal Party in Australia.^{[citation needed]} John Roskam, the IPA's Executive Director, worked on the Liberal Party's 2001 election campaign.^{[citation needed]} He has also run for Liberal Party preselection.^[9] Prime Minister John Howard (Liberal Party) delivered the 60th C D Kemp lecture to the Institute in 2004, titled Iraq: The Importance of Seeing it Through.^[10]

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Research focus

Since the early 1980s, the Institute has argued the case for a range of free-market and libertarian public policies, such as:^{[citation needed]}

lower taxation;
deregulation of the Australian economy particularly as affecting industrial relations and trade unionism;
privatisation of government businesses and reduced government spending;
greater transparency in government;
opposition to perceived left wing ideological bias in Australia's public broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corporation;
a free market approach to environmental problems, and criticism of aspects of climate change science;
the elimination of existing programs of welfare targeted at Indigenous Australians, with the aim of encouraging transition to work, self-reliance and high incomes.

The IPA has affiliations with think tanks in the U.S., Canada, UK and Asia.^{[citation needed]} It has a close relationship with the American Enterprise Institute, a right-wing US think-tank.^{[citation needed]}

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Position on smoking

The IPA has been critical of scientific research on the dangers of passive smoking. A paper published by the IPA in 1996 described a major report of the National Health and Medical Research Council as "incoherent", "corrupt" and "incompetent".^[11]

The IPA has made the following criticisms proposals by the Australian government to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products:

Plain packaging may not affect the consumption of those products and ^[12]^{[note 1]}
Plain packaging may infringe intellectual property rights in tobacco trademarks and logos.

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Position on climate change and environmental issues

The IPA adopts a position of climate change scepticism and supports most Australian climate sceptics.^[13] The IPA supports elements of climate change science, including some link between the use of fossil fuels and rising carbon dioxide levels, however it also disagrees with certain aspects of climate theories^{[citation needed]}. Former staff member Jennifer Marohasy supports the view that many environmental issues, including climate change, are exaggerated, and that green groups promote solutions that ultimately do not benefit society.^[14]

In 2008, the institute facilitated a donation of $350,000 by Dr G. Bryant Macfie, a climate change sceptic, to the University of Queensland for environmental research. The money is to fund three environmental doctoral projects, with the IPA suggesting two of the three agreed topics.^[15]

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Staff

John Roskam is the institute's executive director. Prior to his employment at the IPA, Roskam was the Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre in Canberra. He has also held positions as Chief of Staff to Dr David Kemp, the Federal Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, as Senior Advisor to Don Hayward, Victorian Minister for Education in the first Kennett Government, and as Manager of Government and Corporate Affairs for Rio Tinto Group.^[16]^{[dead link]} He is currently undertaking a PhD and tutoring politics at the University of Melbourne.