The Stutchbury Sessions

Subscribe to The Stutchbury Sessions on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM or listen in your browser.  

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.”

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:

Gorillas In The Mist. How government obscures its spending: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/gorillas-in-the-mist-how-government-obscures-its-spending/ 

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

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.

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/

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 this inaugural edition, CIS Executive Director and former Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Financial Review, Michael Stutchbury, outlines how Australia once enjoyed extraordinary prosperity, built on bipartisan reforms of the 1980s and 1990s that liberalized markets, cut tariffs, and opened the economy to global competition.

Yet, since prosperity peaked in 2011–12, signs of decline have mounted: stagnant productivity, shrinking real incomes, persistent deficits, mounting debt, weak business investment, soaring energy costs, and a lower growth potential as estimated by the RBA.

The problem is not simply cyclical, Stutchbury says. As politics shifted from creating wealth to redistributing it, spending grew while reform stalled. New entitlements and universal programs have expanded government outlays, crowding out private investment.

To restore prosperity, Australia must pursue the four reforms outlined in this episode.

Australia has reinvented itself before; it must find the courage to do so again.

Join Michael Stutchbury, former Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Financial Review, in his brand-new show The Stutchbury Sessions. Don’t navigate Australia’s economic turbulence alone. Get ready for razor-sharp analysis backed by data and logic.

Don’t miss an episode. Policies evolve, and opportunities vanish, so here’s your chance to stay ahead of the pack. Subscribe to The Stutchbury Sessions on your favourite platform today.