Category: freedom of association

Expulsion or Suspension: A Distinction Without a Difference

Commentary The evolving story of Liberal MP Moira Deeming in Victoria is turning into a confrontation between those who want to revitalise the party by re-affirming its principles, and those who believe that the path to political power lies in moving ever more to the left. By now, the facts of the Deeming story are…


Mens-Only Clubs and the Freedom of Association

Commentary On June 15 around 700 members of Sydney’s exclusive Australian Club voted on a motion to determine whether women were allowed to be full members. Currently, women are only welcomed as guests of existing members but are not eligible to become full members. The Cub, founded in 1838, is described on its website as…


The Lost Art of Association

Commentary America is a nation of joiners. When the French aristocrat and political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the early 1830s, he was astonished at all the ways Americans associated. He wrote, “Of all countries in the world, America has taken greatest advantage of association and has applied this powerful means of action…