PM’s department reads Roskam’s columns

In his column for the Australian Financial Review last week, John Roskam attacked secret deals between the government and business. In a stunning coincidence, that afternoon the IPA finally received a months-old freedom of information request from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. You can read the document – Julia Gillard’s letter to media executives proposing to restrict free speech – exclusively on FreedomWatch.

If you’re a regular Hey reader then you already know that free market economic reform has lifted 660 million Chinese out of poverty. But you might not have heard about a small group of peasants who signed a secret document that started it all.

You’d have to wonder what Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm would have to say about that. Hobsbawm passed away this week and The Guardian is gushing. The Telegraph mentions a small matter they glossed over.

The best thing about US elections would have to be the ads. Experts are calling this brutal new ad from Republican Congressman Allen West one of the most effective ever. This (profanity-laden) pro-Obama ad featuring Samuel L. Jackson has Democrats excited too. Here’s the back story on the political action committee that put it together.

Last week we told you America has cheap beer. But which way do Corona drinkers vote? As a Sam Adams drinker I’m very pleased with this graph. Turns out you can also pick the way people will vote based on their names. No prizes for guessing which party people named Gwendolyn prefer.

The ice cream truck is fast becoming a thing of the past in Britain, partly thanks to the Nanny State. But at least the Poms aren’t requiring dogs to wear seatbelts, like New Jersey, or banning children from wearing sporting jerseys with “gang numbers” like one Colorado public school.

Two great reads this week – Dan Hannan in The Daily Mail on why the left hates Margaret Thatcher, and a fascinating long look at what life is like living under a fatwa, by Salman Rushdie in last month’s New Yorker.

Here’s what else the IPA said this week:

• Chris Berg, Don’t just tinker with government – reduce it – The Drum
• Tom Switzer, It’s not about ‘cranks’, it’s about tax rises and high spending – The Age
• James Paterson, Should the government restrict super-sizing junk food? – The Herald Sun
• Chris Berg, Geert Wilders gets a visa – FreedomWatch
• Simon Breheny, Alan Jones guilty of racial vilification – FreedomWatch
• Chris Berg, Judge and jury found in breach by bigger judge and jury – FreedomWatch

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