The Stutchbury Sessions

Leadership Failure and the Bondi Terror Attack | Peter Kurti

Shortly before 7pm on Sunday, a Hanukah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach was attacked by two alleged gunmen, believed to be a father and son. At the time of recording, 16 people aged between 10 and 87 are confirmed dead, including one of the alleged attackers, and at least 42 others are being treated in hospital for their injuries.
In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions, Michael Stutchbury talks with Peter Kurti about the tragedy at Bondi, the politicial leadership failures and rising antisemitism in Australia. 👉Relevant writings: 🔹 Australia’s complacency and the Bondi beach shooting: https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/opinion/australias-complacency-and-the-bondi-beach-shooting/ 🔹 Reframing an Ancient Hatred: the intersection of left-wing antisemitism and anti-Zionism: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/reframing-an-ancient-hatred-the-intersection-of-left-wing-antisemitism-and-anti-zionism/ 🔹 The Darkest Path: The Puzzling Resilience of Antisemitism. Acton Lecture 2025: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-darkest-path-the-puzzling-resilience-of-antisemitism-acton-lecture-2025/ 🔹 Fractured Loyalties. Australian citizenship and the crisis of civic virtue: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/fractured-loyalties-australian-citizenship-and-the-crisis-of-civic-virtue/ 👉 Support our work to combat Antisemitism in Australia:🔹 Become a member:  https://www.cis.org.au/membership-2-step-1/  🔹 Make a donation: https://www.cis.org.au/support/donate/today/  🔹 Learn more: https://www.cis.org.au/  #auspol #bondi

Rebuilding the Property-Owning Democracy

In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions:Michael Stutchbury examines Senator Andrew Bragg’s provocative event at CIS on the future of housing policy — a speech that openly challenged the Liberal Party’s long-standing comfort with rising house prices and called for an unapologetic YIMBY agenda to win back younger voters. 
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How loss of cheap energy pressures wage system

 In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions:Are the Liberals sabotaging their path back to government by walking away from net zero? Or are they facing reality about Australia’s costly clean-energy transition?
In this episode, we dissect whether the Coalition’s internal divisions on climate and energy policy are overshadowing Labor’s failure to retain Australia’s traditional cheap energy advantage. Net-zero targets remain popular in the urban seats the Liberals must win back, so why pick this fight now?👉 Join CIS:
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Echoes of the 1970s: Classical Liberalism Under Assault from Left and Right

Is the 2020s an echo of the 1970s for classical liberalism? In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions, Michael Stutchbury recaps the CIS Consilium, exploring how free enterprise, free trade, and limited government are under assault from both the left and the populist right. Featuring insights from Andrew Neil on the plight of mainstream conservatism and Dave Rubin on the liberal side of MAGA, Stutchbury discusses globalization, immigration, tariffs, big government deficits, and the future of western liberal values amid rising populism.
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Consumer Choice, Risk & Safety with Fred Roeder

Subscribe to The Stutchbury Sessions on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM or listen in your browser.  Where is the line between risk and regulation? In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions, Fred Roeder from the Consumer Choice Center dives into how consumers should stand against overregulation and embrace technological innovation for a more prosperous and free future. Michael Stutchbury and Fred Roeder discuss everything from ride sharing platforms to life and death medical innovations. The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, non-partisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life. Watch this content here: https://youtu.be/_2XkdpUSHGg 👉 Join CIS: 🔹 Become a member: https://www.cis.org.au/membership-2-step-1/
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Dark Forces at Work? Sir Frank Lowy on the Return of Antisemitism

Subscribe to The Stutchbury Sessions on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM or listen in your browser.  In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions, host Michael Stutchbury reflects on his recent conversation with Sir Frank Lowy — the 95-year-old founder of the Westfield shopping centre empire and one of Australia’s most successful 20th-century immigrants.
Speaking from his Sydney home ahead of returning to Israel, Sir Frank offered a rare and emotional perspective on the country that gave him refuge and opportunity — and the unease he now feels about the rise of antisemitism in Australia. “I am 95 years old and came here when I was 21, and I prospered, and people prospered with me,” he said. “Now I am at an absolute loss to describe what has happened to Australia.”To learn more about our research in this area, please click here: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-new-intolerance-antisemitism-and-religious-hatred-in-a-fracturing-civic-compact/ 

The Renewables Honeymoon Is Over | Michael Stutchbury

Australia’s “renewables honeymoon” is ending and the energy bill is coming due.
In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions, we unpack the myth that government planning can fix every problem, from the $52 billion NDIS blowout to Labor’s net zero ambitions. Drawing on Friedrich Hayek’s timeless warning against the “conceit of planners,” Michael Stutchbury explores how Australia’s big-spending policies, from the NBN to Gonski and now the renewables transition, have delivered diminishing returns, rising costs, and lost productivity.
Stutchbury also covers:
Why Australia’s decarbonisation plan may never meet 2030 or 2050 targets
The real reason power prices keep rising despite “free” solar and wind
How subsidies and political conceit mask the true costs of energy policy
Why a new political bargain — including nuclear and gas — may be inevitable
This is a must-listen for anyone interested in energy policy, economic reform, Hayekian economics, and the future of net zero in Australia.
Research mentioned:The Renewable Energy Honeymoon: starting is easy, the rest is hard: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-renewable-energy-honeymoon-starting-is-easy-the-rest-is-hard/ The New Leviathan: A National Disability Insurance Scheme: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-new-leviathan-a-national-disability-insurance-scheme-3/ 
Gorillas In The Mist. How government obscures its spending: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/gorillas-in-the-mist-how-government-obscures-its-spending/ Subscribe to The Stutchbury Sessions on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM or listen in your browser.  

Iron, Ideas, and Abundance: Supply Side Mistakes and Lessons

Iron, Ideas, and Abundance: Supply Side Mistakes and Lessons This week on The Stutchbury Sessions, Michael reflects on his recent visit to Western Australia, the engine room of the nation’s prosperity. 
From the billion tonnes of iron ore dug out of the Pilbara to the decades-long export ban that once kept Australia poor, this episode revisits how lifting restrictions unlocked one of the greatest booms in our history. It’s a lesson in abundance: when governments get out of the way, entrepreneurs and investors unleash prosperity.Read our recent productivity research: Addressing Australia’s Productivity Problem. CORE Blueprint to Unshackle Productivity: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/addressing-australias-productivity-problem-core-blueprint-to-unshackle-productivity/ The Productivity Problem. Australia’s Growth Slump Is Undermining Prosperity: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-productivity-problem-australias-growth-slump-is-undermining-prosperity/ 👉 Help Solve Australia's Productivity Problem:🔹 Become a member: https://www.cis.org.au/membership-2-step-1/🔹 Make a donation: https://www.cis.org.au/support/donate/today/🔹 Learn more: https://www.cis.org.au/
 

Why Australians Vote for Big Government

Why are Australians voting for bigger government? In this episode of The Stutchbury Sessions, we explore the paradox of a wealthy nation choosing more handouts, higher spending, and larger public debt. From cost-of-living subsidies to universal childcare, Australians are increasingly embracing policies that expand the welfare state, even as they fuel deficits and weaken productivity.
Drawing on CIS research from Robert Carling and recent remarks by Liberal leader Sussan Ley, we unpack the rise of “voting for a living,” where more than half of Australians now rely on government for most of their income. What does this mean for future taxpayers, younger workers, and Australia’s long-term prosperity?
Join us as we tackle the culture of dependency, the risks of a $1 trillion public debt, and the political challenge of saying no to endless handouts.
Read or listen to Robert Carling's Research: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/leviathan-on-the-rampage-how-the-growth-of-government-is-draining-australias-economic-vitality/👉 Help Shrink the Government:🔹 Become a member: https://www.cis.org.au/membership-2-step-1/🔹 Make a donation: https://www.cis.org.au/support/donate/today/🔹 Learn more: https://www.cis.org.au/

Protests, Polarisation and Immigration

Feed your intelligence with policy research and commentary designed to enhance our liberal democracy. Join Michael Stutchbury and guests every Thursday for your 10 minute briefing. In Australia, a growing sense of polarisation is erupting, evident in the recent 'March for Australia' rallies, where tens of thousands voiced concerns over mass migration's impact on housing, infrastructure, and wages, only to see their protests co-opted by far-right extremists and white nationalists. This mirrors the earlier pro-Palestinian marches, where genuine compassion for Gaza was tainted by support for Iran's theocratic regime. These divisions reflect a world grappling with identity, immigration, and geopolitical upheaval. Australia’s success as an immigrant nation is undeniable, yet mismanaged housing policies have fueled misdirected anger toward migrants. As global powers like Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong-un challenge the liberal order, Australia must counter these cultural rifts with honest, fact-based debate to preserve our cohesion and shared future.Michael Stutchbury is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Financial Review, a role he held from 2011 until 2024, when he became the masthead's Editor-at-Large. With a career in journalism spanning several decades, and including a stint as a Washington correspondent, he is widely respected for his expertise in economic and public policy issues and his engagement with business issues. Before leading the Financial Review, he served as Economics Editor and later as Editor of The Australian, where he played a key role in shaping national discourse on fiscal policy, industrial relations, and economic reform. His career has consistently demonstrated a strong grasp of the interplay between government policy and market dynamics, making him a prominent voice in debates over taxation, regulation, and productivity.Relevant Research: The Future of Australian Multiculturalism: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-future-of-australian-multiculturalism/Fractured Loyalties. Australian citizenship and the crisis of civic virtue: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/fractured-loyalties-australian-citizenship-and-the-crisis-of-civic-virtue/Reconciling value pluralism and national identity: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-ties-that-bind-reconciling-value-pluralism-and-national-identity-in-australia/👉 Help Australia: 🔹 Become a member: https://www.cis.org.au/membership-2-step-1/🔹 Make a donation: https://www.cis.org.au/support/donate/today/🔹 Learn more: https://www.cis.org.au/