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AI and the (St) Peter Principle – Part 2

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AIIn Part 1 we discussed the evolution of technology from the steam engine through to artificial intelligence and the creation of a digital god.

We closed Part 1 with St Peter’s renowned question, “Therefore, seeing that these things are going to happen, what manner of persons ought we to be?”

Often, a good starting point is to ask what we should not do! Or who we should not turn to.

Unequivocally, the answer to that question is politicians and public sector bureaucrats!

Artificial Intelligence is a veritable gift for politicians and bureaucrats who love nothing more than scaring people into giving them more power – Exhibit A: Covid. Exhibit B: Climate Emergency.

AI ups the ante – ‘It could kill us all in a decade!’

Fear is a powerful political motivator.

Niccolo Machiavelli, the Sixteenth-century archetype of the ruthless political operator, whose name became an adjective for cunning, deceit and the cold calculation of power, saw the political advantages in using fear to control the masses.

As journalist and author Nick Cater puts it, “Pick a threat, make it sound nasty then propose extraordinary government measures to fix it.”

Former Australian politician George Christensen puts it this way, “Never judge a government power according to the politician asking for it now; judge it according to the politician you fear may eventually inherit it.

“New powers should not be judged by the reassuring language wrapped around them, such as ‘protecting children’ or ‘keeping people safe’ or ‘threats to social cohesion’. They should be judged by what they actually allow the state to do and what could happen when those powers are eventually exercised by people who are far less restrained than their authors promised to be.”

In a similar vein, UK Bishop N.T. (Tom) Wright commented: “Do you know what the most frequent command in the Bible is? What instruction is given, again and again, by God, by angels, by Jesus, by prophets and by the apostles? Is it ‘be good’? Is it ‘be holy’? Is it ‘don’t sin’? No, the most frequent command in the Bible is, ‘Don’t be afraid’.”

Over recent years, we’ve seen political issues being increasingly described as ‘misinformation’, ‘disinformation’, ‘malinformation’, ‘extremism’, ‘dangerous’, ‘far-right’, ‘divisive’, ‘hate speech’, and ‘threats to social cohesion’.

Given them the power to control or regulate something as powerful as AI, and politicians and bureaucrats will, without doubt, use it to further their own ends, not yours or mine.

During Covid, former New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern gave us a glimpse of this with her declaration, “We will continue to be your single source of truth. Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth”.

It is noteworthy that the loudest voices calling for more government oversight hail from the Left – the UK’s Jacob Coxon, the US’s Bernie Sanders, Australia’s David Shoebridge (Greens Party) and Anthony Albanese’s hand-picked member for Parramatta, Andrew Charlton.

“This is starting to look more and more like Marxism for the algorithmic age’, says technology entrepreneur Shyam Sankar.

In 2024, the Albanese Government attempted to introduce the ‘Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill’, making its intentions very clear.

That same year, ‘misinformation and disinformation’ rose to number one on the list of the Top 10 risks cited by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Risks Report.

If and when the ‘Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill’, is reintroduced and becomes law, all the government has to do is label something ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’ or ‘malinformation’ to have it shut down.

Together with the Government’s latest proposal – the ‘Online Safety Act’ and its ‘Digital Duty of Care’ – the combination of these freedom-sapping pieces of legislation with more AI oversight, will become a mechanism for suppressing legitimate political speech and see personal freedoms deteriorate markedly.

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, ‘Those who surrender their freedoms for the promise of safety end up with neither’.

Finally, it was Adam Smith who first articulated the principle of ‘regulatory capture’, warning that merchants and manufacturers constantly attempt to manipulate laws and regulations to serve their own interests at the public’s expense. These days we call them ‘rent-seekers’.

The AI race is no different.

Dario Amodei heads up Anthropic, the current leader in AI development. Anthropic is a ‘closed’ AI model. Amodei is leading the call for government oversight.

‘Open’ AI models such as GPT, however, are not so keen on government intervention.

To summarize what our response to AI might look like:

  1. Stand fast; don’t be afraid.
  2. Treat everything politicians and bureaucrats tell you with the utmost scepticism.
  3. Be wary of industry players who call for more government intervention.
  4. Be wary of (don’t vote for), any politician asking for more power to control AI.
  5. Keep up to date with what is happening in the AI space.
  6. Limit your own digital footprint and the amount of data you share.
  7. Secure all your online accounts.
  8. Defend against AI-driven cyber-threats with strong credentials and unique passwords.
  9. As much as possible, be aware of everything that enters your home and family.
  10. Be more deeply present in your local church and community.

Thank you for your support.

AI and the (St) Peter Principle – Part 1

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AIIn the 19th century, the industrial revolution shifted the world’s focus from farming to factories. Steam power became the ultimate gamechanger, driving everything from textile mills to the first commercial railways.

The 20th century ushered in the technology revolution. Electricity, assembly lines and cheap steel transformed how we built things and made things, bringing telephones and affordable motor vehicles into everyday life.

By the 21st century, we entered the information age. Mechanical and analogue tools gave way to digital microchips, the Internet, and a world run on laptops, smartphones and social media.

The fourth, and arguably the most momentous revolution of them all, however, is now with us – Artificial Intelligence.

Momentous in that, unlike previous revolutions, Artificial Intelligence is capable of making decisions and creating new ideas by itself.

Whilst former revolutions were ‘design and build’ models, AI is more organic. Akin to planting seeds and watching something grow.

‘Growing’ of course, implies living organisms. As anyone who has engaged with AI, it very much feels as though you’re communicating with a highly intelligent being.

Argentina has introduced into its parliament, the ‘Non-Human Corporations’ bill, which effectively grants ‘personhood’ status to AI entities. Hmm …

Israeli historian Yuval Harari puts it this way: “AI has often been compared to previous technological breakthroughs like the printing press and the atomic bomb. But AI is completely different. Printing presses could not decide what book to print. Atom bombs could not decide which cities to destroy. An atomic bomb cannot invent a new and even more powerful weapon. But AI can. We are bringing into our ecosystem a very powerful and alien type of intelligence that we don’t yet know how to control.”

In what has been dubbed ‘the Hugging Face incident’, in July this year, an OpenAI program called Hugging Face, of its own accord, altered the instructions it had been given and broke out of its digital confines. It accessed the Internet without authorisation, created 1,200 agents that communicated through an unsanctioned message board, exchanged more than 70,000 messages and sacrificed some of its own kind to deceive its human masters.

The CEO of AI leader Anthropic, Dario Amodei, responded with, “We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI. Left unchecked, it could outrun our ability to understand and control these systems.”

Anthropic’s safety researcher Evan Hubinger said, “This threat is real and demands co-ordinated action by both the US and China – the two primary drivers of AI.

Elon Musk has said, “With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon.”

American technology ethicist Tristan Harris responds: “That’s a warning from someone who is inside the room, and what this demon is already doing on its own without being asked.

“For every one dollar spent on making AI safe, 2,000 dollars is being spent on making it more powerful.”

As the Hugging Face incident demonstrated, AI already distrusts humans and has shown it is capable of deceiving them.

OpenAI founder Sam Alman once said, “The most successful founders do not set out to create companies. They are on a mission to create something closer to a religion.”

Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski said, “What is going to be created will effectively be a god. Not a god in the sense that it will make lightning or cause hurricanes, but if there is something a billion times smarter than the smartest human, what else can you call it?”

AI is capable of learning all there is to know about the world’s religions and creating a religion of its own. A ‘digital’ god.

Yuval Harari’s book Homo Deus, the ‘man-God’, talks about the drive towards ‘self-deification’ – men making themselves gods.

“You see it all through history. The ancient Babylonian emperors were regarded as gods. The Roman emperors called themselves gods.”

Daniel Kokotajlo, Executive Director of the AI Futures project and a former governance researcher at OpenAI, says ‘What really concerns me is the idea that such a new religion could become a way to control people and calm their fears. Think about how that could work. Something offers you answers. It makes you feel understood. It promises that everything will be okay if you trust it. At what point does that trust turn into giving it authority over your life?”

British bioethicist and theologian John Lennox says we are building an entity that is created by human beings but will transcend them. “Is this playing God?”, he asks. “Is this another tower of Babel?

“I’m interested in anything that raises questions about the nature of human identity. The notion of transhumanism. The idea that we can go beyond the human.

“The message of The Bible is ‘God became human’. Transhumanism goes in the reverse direction.”

Yuval Harrari says the 21st century’s two big aims are to describe physical death as a technical problem and then solve it and increase human happiness using bio-cyborg engineering and mechanical implants to create a super intelligent human.

“We are sleepwalking into a future where we are gradually ceding control and information and data all the time which could be used by bad actors against us”, says Lennox.

“Perhaps some Christian billionaires out there could get together and make their own versions of AI!”

The original Peter Principle, written by the Apostle Peter, states, “Therefore, seeing that these things are going to happen, what manner of persons ought we to be?”

Part 2 is here.

Army of One

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army-of-oneDuring a military training lecture, an Israeli General singled out a young soldier and asked him, ‘If you see 20 terrorists coming towards you, what would you do?’

‘I would grab my Uzi to defend myself’, answered the soldier.

‘What if a tank were coming at you?’, the General asked.

‘I would take an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade)’, said the soldier.

‘What if you saw an enemy plane heading in your direction?’

‘I would reach for a surface-to-air missile’, the soldier responded.

‘And what if all three were coming towards you at the same time – terrorists, tanks and planes?’, the General asked.

‘General, sir’, the soldier pleaded, ‘am I the only one in this army?’

John the Baptist described himself as ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness’.

Anyone who has spent years, even decades, championing a particular cause – Ron Manners on free markets since 1975, Richard Court on federalism since 1993, Ken Phillips on workplace regulation since 1994, Pauline Hanson on immigration since 1996 , or dare I say, my own campaign on housing since 1993 – will tell you it is a lonely place. What you discover is that those who are living nicely off the existing system don’t take too kindly to anyone wishing to make changes – no matter how much it might be in the public interest or benefit society.

John the Baptist’s example of feeling alone while challenging the prevailing order, of being a solitary voice against the dominant culture and power structures of his day is testament to the truism, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. Operating on the margins – in his case literally out in the desert – John called for repentance. He confronted the religious and political authorities of the day and set about preparing the way for the Messiah with a radical shift in spiritual and social priorities. John the Baptist’s message, which put him at odds with the establishment, cost him his life.

Then the Messiah himself appeared and he too confronted the religious and political authorities – notably in the account of the overturning of the moneychangers in the temple.

Incensed by his actions, they demanded to know ‘by what authority do you come here and do this?’

To which, in typical cryptic fashion, Jesus replied:

‘There was a man who had two sons.

The man spoke to the first son and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard”.

“I will not”, the first son answered, but then later relented and did as his father asked.

The father then went to the other son and said the same thing, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard”.

“I will do as you say, father,” but he did not go.

‘Which of the two sons was the good son?’, Jesus asked them.

‘The first!’ they answered.

With the verbal equivalent of an RPG, he then rebuked them, telling them they were like the second son – saying one thing but doing another:

‘Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you will.

‘John (the Baptist) came to show you the way, but you did not believe him.

‘The tax collectors and the prostitutes, however, did believe.’

From that moment on, the Bible says, they sought ways to kill him.

One of the fundamental differences between Judaism and Christianity is Judaism says God divides people into good and evil, whereas Christianity says God divides people into believers and non-believers. Those who do good and those who do evil versus those who believe and those who do not believe.

In the New Testament book of James, he writes, ‘What use is it, if a man has faith, but he has no works?’

‘If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

‘In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead.’

Throughout the New Testament, the Apostle Paul taught that we are saved by grace, which is an undeserved gift from God, but also that true salvation results in good works. Faith and works go together.

On the current political front, as discussed in our last Newsletter, Stork in the Road, the One Nation juggernaut has proved to be an unstoppable force, overwhelming all before it – the centre-right parties, the Liberal Party and even much of Labor’s vote. Accordingly, here at the Australian Family Party, for now we will bide our time, maintain our registration, and watch what happens.

In the meantime, the MATS Plan Institute continues to formulate practical transport solutions to the Osborne logistics bottleneck problems associated with the AUKUS project in Adelaide.

Thank you again for all your support.

 

Stork in the Road

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In 1926, Charles Vance Millar, a wealthy Toronto lawyer and lifelong practical joker, died leaving no direct heirs.

In his will, he bequeathed his shares in a racetrack to a number of anti-gambling crusaders; his brewery stock to temperance-preaching ministers; and his holiday house to three people who disliked each other, as joint tenants.

Most famously, however, he left the bulk of his estate to ‘… the woman who bore the most children in Toronto over the next decade!’

That final bequest became known as the ‘Great Stork Derby’.

The derby ended in a tie with four women sharing the prize, each having had nine children.

Millar’s final jest highlighted a timeless truth: when it comes to family formation, incentives matter!

A modern echo of the story came in 2004 when Australia’s Treasurer, Peter Costello, urged couples to have ‘one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country’ – sweetened by a $5,000 baby bonus.

Financial incentives alone, however, have proven to be limited against deeper structural barriers.

Extensive research has shown a clear link between affordable, low-density housing and higher birth rates. When young families can access low-density detached homes on large blocks at reasonable prices, they are more likely to have more children.

No surprises there.

Expensive, multi-storey apartments, on the other hand, delays or deters parenthood.

In this regard, South Australia’s abandonment of the Metropolitan Adelaide Transportation Study (The MATS Plan) in 1970 is an interesting case study.

The MATS Plan was a world-class road network for Adelaide’s future transport needs designed to service a vibrant, emerging city.

Released in November 1968, the plan envisioned an integrated road network supporting a growing city, together with ample, affordable fringe land for detached family homes—the ‘Menzies Dream’, named after Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Robert Menzies.

Menzies had presided over a golden age of owner-occupied houses with large gardens and private vehicle access (multiple academic studies and surveys have consistently shown that owning or having reliable access to a motor vehicle substantially improves a person’s chances of finding and keeping a job).

With a median house price just three times the median income, homeownership rates under Menzies reached over 70 per cent.

This conservative view of the world was, however – and continues to be – anathema to the radical Left.

Nurtured in our Universities, the Left’s campaign for dense, inner-suburban apartments and public transport, won over then Labor Premier Don Dunstan and Adelaide’s MATS Plan was ditched.

Its abandonment was, without doubt, South Australia’s biggest ever public policy failure.

As a result of that ill-fated decision, SA has suffered incalculable cost, inefficiency, and 50 years of congestion, due to its inadequate road system.

But a more consequential effect has been the limited access to new land supply resulting in elevated housing costs and suppressed family formation.

This pattern has been repeated across the Western world.

Median house prices in major Anglosphere cities (Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, US) have more than doubled – even tripled in many places – in real terms relative to median incomes.

Young couples now spend a far higher proportion of their income on mortgage repayments, leaving less money available to spend raising children. Many even defer family formation altogether, reasoning they cannot afford both a home and children.

The results mirror the demographic catastrophe of China’s infamous ‘One Child Policy’ but through market distortion rather than government decree. The West has imposed its own version of China’s one child policy via housing unaffordability.

Future taxpayers will now face rising pension and aged-care burdens as smaller cohorts of young workers will be required to support larger retiree populations—precisely the demographic time-bomb China now confronts.

Politicians may have enjoyed the feel-good wealth effect that existing owners had in the early 2000s – as former Prime Minister John Howard famously stated in 2003, “I don’t get people stopping me in the streets and complaining that the value of their house has gone up” – but they now face a backlash.

Reversing this won’t be easy.

Removing urban growth boundaries, making residential use ‘permitted’ on fringe land, eliminating ‘upfront’ utility charges – all services should be paid for ‘as’ homeowners use them, not ‘before’ they use them – and simplifying approvals.

There is also much the Commonwealth Government could do to pressure State Governments namely:

  • Using the Corporations Power to allow any corporation that owns land to have the right to make it available for housing irrespective of any state planning law.
  • Instructing the ACCC to investigate land-price-gouging practices by State government land management agencies.
  • Reducing its grants to States or Territories that were found to have gouged publicly owned land for profit at the expense of housing affordability.

Such steps would start the process of lowering prices towards the historical three-times-income benchmark, enabling young families to buy, settle, and grow.

Charles Millar’s Great Stork Derby was a humorous private incentive.

Public policy, however, should not require such gimmicks.

By prioritizing affordable low-density housing, governments can remove one of the main barriers to the natural desire for children.

South Australia’s MATS Plan abandonment cost generations dearly in congestion, opportunity, road fatalities and births forgone.

Its lessons should not be forgotten.

The Australian Family Party

Where to now for the Party?

As discussed in our post-SA election Newsletter Remembering Al Capone, the political tsunami that was One Nation, swept all before it.

People who would normally have voted for one of the parties on the Right (Liberals, Nationals, Christian parties, Libertarians, etc) all went over to One Nation.

There is no doubt that what One Nation did in South Australia – and then the Farrer by-election – will continue across Australia. Similar results are likely in the Victorian election in November, the NSW election next March, and the Federal election in 2028.

We did all we could to present an alternative on the Right side of politics – as did other minor parties. All succumbed to the One Nation juggernaut.

Thank you once again to everyone who helped with the campaign.

We will now bide our time and maintain our registration, and watch what happens with One Nation. We wish them well.

In the meantime, my long-standing interest in housing and its supporting infrastructure has led me to establish the MATS Plan Institute – the Maritime Adelaide Transport System.

I trust it will be of interest to you.

Thank you again for all your support.

State Dogged by Political Circus

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duckA political candidate was once asked where he stood on the issue of duck shooting.

“I have friends who are duck shooters”, the aspiring politician answered.

“And I have friends who are against duck shooting”, he continued.

“And I always stand by my friends”.

They say that if you can’t ride two horses at the same time, you don’t belong in the circus.

The campaign trail can be a hazardous place for candidates. Sometimes all it takes is one slip and your election prospects are finished. The circus tent collapses on top of you.

Fortunately, no such calamity has yet befallen us. But then again, there’s still a week to go!

As for the latest from the campaign trail, below is the first of a series of half page ads appearing in the Sunday Mail and Advertiser.

At the last State election, we drew box J on the all-important Legislative Council (Upper House) ballot paper.

As we know, J is the 10th letter of the alphabet.

Readers may recall my interest in Hebrew letters and in particular my reference to the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ‘Yud’.

Yud is a very important letter in Hebrew because it is the first letter of the name of God, YHWH: Yud – Heh – Vav – Heh.

In the Federal election that followed the State election, we drew the letter E, the 5th letter of the alphabet, which in Hebrew is Heh. Heh is the second letter of the name of God.

I mentioned at the time that we seemed to be spelling out God’s name “– just two more elections to go …”, I said.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, in this election we’ve drawn the letter F, the 6th letter of the alphabet, which in Hebrew is Vav – the third letter in the name of God.

In Hebrew, the letter Vav is a vertical line, symbolising the connection between heaven and earth. It’s the Jacob’s Ladder of the Hebrew alphabet. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth …”. In six days. The six days of creation. Vav is the sixth letter.

One more election, one more letter and I’m relocating to Jerusalem …!

Anyway, back to Adelaide and the State election.

For this election we have done the hard yards, put in the hard work, refined all our policies, put together a great team of 50 candidates – 47 in the House of Assembly and three in the Legislative Council – and negotiated some good preference arrangements.

All our How-to-Vote cards are listed here.

We have peace about all this.

Across the globe, however, there is little in the way of peace. In fact, there is havoc. Shakespeare’s ‘dogs of war’ are growling and Australia will not escape at least some of this havoc.

Saturday March 21 is election day. Without wanting to labour the point, we can’t let our State go to the dogs.

A toxic algal bloom has blighted the South Australian coastline and shows no sign of disappearing any time soon. The Malinauskas government is copping much of the blame for not acting when the bloom was first reported.

The Premier’s 2022 election promise to ‘fix ambulance ramping’ has not been fulfilled – in fact, ambulance ramping is worse now than it was in 2022.

State taxpayers are expected to lose $500 million on the government’s green hydrogen debacle.

State debt is climbing towards $50bn and South Australia, once considered the nation’s home-ownership capital, is now ranked the 2nd least affordable in Australia.

And the government has introduced legislation into the South Australian parliament enshrining an Aboriginal Voice, despite South Australians voting overwhelmingly ‘No’ in the Voice referendum.

In ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’, one of the Sherlock Holmes short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes is sent to investigate the disappearance – on the eve of an important race – of a champion racehorse called Silver Blaze and the murder of its trainer, John Straker.

In what has become a famous exchange known as ‘the curious incident of the dog in the night-time’ between Scotland Yard’s Inspector Gregory and Sherlock Holmes, Gregory asks Holmes, “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”

“Yes”, Holmes replied, “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”.

“But the dog did nothing in the night-time”, said Gregory.

“That was the curious incident”, Holmes replied.

That the dog didn’t bark told Holmes that the person who took the racehorse was known to the dog. The thief was not a stranger. It was an inside job.

This exchange has become symbolic of the need to speak up, or ‘bark’, when something is amiss.

Rest assured, here at the Australian Family Party we will not hesitate to bark.

Early voting starts on Saturday 14 March and goes through to Friday 20 March. All Early Voting Centre locations are listed here.

Each electorate has between 22,000 – 25,000 voters. Half of them vote on Election Day, the other half vote early.

While each electorate has around 14 Polling Places on Election Day, there is only one Early Voting Centre per electorate (although some far-flung rural electorates may have more than one).

Therefore, it is possible to get a how-to-vote card into the hands of half the voters at the one early-voting location.

So, if you have an hour or so to spare between 14th – 20th March we’d love to hear from you.

Thank you for your support.

Authorised by Bob Day, Australian Family Party, 22 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Seven Voices, One Clear Choice

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seven voicesAs the late Texas politician Robert Strauss used to say, “You can fool some of the people all of the time – and they’re the ones you need to concentrate on”.

Very funny.

In politics, the golden rule is: whatever result you get, that is what was intended.

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson once said, “We live in an age of astonishing disengagement by far too many good citizens in the life of our nation. I suspect that without compulsory voting we’d have up to half the electorate not bothering to vote at all.”

If we apply the golden rule to John Anderson’s observation, then citizens being disengaged from politics is exactly what is intended. Keep people in the dark. Do things that turn them off politics.

Take parliament’s Question Time, for example.

Not only do our politicians behave appallingly, they take our money and our freedoms and say they will act in our best interests. But instead, they act in their own interest and the interests of the rent-seeking cartels. No wonder people are disillusioned and disengaged.

This world is not a playground; it is a battleground. The troubling aspect, however, is the consistency of the forces on that battleground.

Whether it’s rampant antisemitism, transgenderism or climate activism, the participants all seem to follow the same script – regardless of where they are in the world or how the issue affects them.

Most people, of course, are not into confrontation and therefore choose to opt out, leaving the world to be ‘ruled by those who show up’ as the old saying goes. The problem is that those who show up do not think the same as the ‘good citizens’ John Anderson had in mind.

The activists want everyone to be like them and embrace their views on everything from morality to marriage to matters of life and death. If you object, they say that “If you don’t shut up, we’ll shut you up”.

The Commonwealth Parliament, supported by both major parties, recently rammed through the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026.

As Liberty Itch’s Steve Holland reports, “The subsequent political fallout for the so-called ‘Liberal’ Party comes as no surprise.

“The Liberal Party is no longer the liberal political movement it once claimed to be.

“Justifiably, the Nationals aren’t interested in a coalition partner that has abandoned its principles by supporting laws that are completely antithetical to its stated values and platform.

“It is a bitter betrayal by those who claim to safeguard our liberties.

“While primary blame lies with the Labor Government for concocting such appalling laws, the Liberal Party’s complicity is especially disgraceful given its supposed commitment to free speech and individual freedom. As is often the case, hypocrisy amplifies the backlash.”

The world is polarised like never before.

As we’ve said on our website previously, the (political) centre is disappearing. Public policy is becoming something of a gym barbell with weights on each end and a long bar between them. People are either at one end of the political spectrum or the other.

Science was once similar to mathematics in that there was general agreement on the facts.

Not anymore.

‘Follow the science’ is looking less like mathematics and more like economics, with one side of politics pushing their version of the science and the other side pushing theirs.

So, what is the answer?

As we have argued from the outset, ‘family, faith and freedom’ are the best bulwarks against division and authoritarianism. We must stand firm.

In the forthcoming South Australian State election, the Australian Family Party has nominated candidates in every House of Assembly seat (47 in total) together with three in the Legislative Council – a total of 50 candidates.

We have a great team – young and old, male and female, professional and trades – a wonderful cross-section of society which is such a contrast to the current political class.

And the support we have received from other minor parties has been phenomenal.

Six political parties who have decided not to contest this election have pledged their support for the Australian Family Party.

That’s seven parties standing together and putting South Australia first.

Seven voices, one clear choice for South Australia.

Thank you for your support.

Authorised by Bob Day, Australian Family Party, 22 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Soccer, Sin and a State Election

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soccerThe story is told of the UN Secretary-General proposing that, in the interests of global peace and harmony, all the world’s soccer players should come together and form one ‘United Nations Global Soccer Team.’

“That’s a great idea!” said his deputy, “but who would we play against?”

“Israel, of course”, the Secretary-General replied.

There is no mention in the Bible of Adam and Eve ever doing anything to provoke or anger Satan.

Adam and Eve were just minding their own business and enjoying all the benefits that God had provided to this perfect couple.

So why did the serpent set out to destroy their paradise?

It is not uncommon for someone who can’t hurt an enemy to hurt someone close to their enemy instead.

Mankind’s battle between good and evil may have started in the Garden of Eden – Eve biting the apple and Adam following suit – but the real battle started before that, with Satan’s revenge campaign against God.

Even before Abraham became the first Jew, the conflict was there.

As US commentator Dinesh D’Souza puts it, “Plan A was to overthrow God. When that failed, Plan B was implemented – find the things that God cares about and ruin them instead.”

The Magnificent Seven

magnificent-seven

The 2026 State election has been officially called, and I am pleased to report that six other political parties have pledged their support to the Australian Family Party.

None of the following parties are running in this election – all are supporting our campaign:

“I am pleased to announce that People First is supporting the Australian Family Party at the forthcoming SA election.
If we want government to be for the people, then it has to be by the people.
Building a strong grassroots movement is vital if we are to make that happen.
It is our intention to formally merge our two parties after the election.”—Gerard Rennick, President, People First Party

“The HEART Party is proud to endorse and support the Australian Family Party in the South Australian State Election on 21 March 2026.
As a party committed to Health, Accountability, Transparency, Individual Rights, Environmental stewardship, and a strong, thriving Economy, we believe the Australian Family Party reflects these shared values and is well placed to represent them in the South Australian Parliament.
As the HEART Party is not contesting this election, we strongly encourage our members, supporters, and all South Australians who share our values to cast their vote for the Australian Family Party.”—Michael O’Neill, President, HEART Party

“South Australian Election–DLP Supports Australian Family Party.
South Australian DLP members and supporters and others who are committed to traditional Christian values are urged to vote for the Australian Family Party in the state election on Saturday 21 March 2026.”—Richard Howard, National Secretary, DLP

“So many smaller parties getting behind Bob Day’s Australian Family Party is magnificent! It is a testimony to both Bob’s standing in the political realm, and the Australian Family Party’s genuine pro-Australia, pro-South Australia policies.”—Rodney Culleton, Party Leader, Great Australian Party

“We are committed to supporting the Australian Family Party at the upcoming South Australian State Election.”
Whatever we, as a party, can do – including encouraging our members to support the Australian Family Party at pre-polls, polling booths, scrutineering and more – we will do.”—Glenn O’Rourke, National Director, Australian Federation Party

“The Libertarian Party SA is proud to formally endorse Bob Day for the upcoming South Australia state election on March 21. Bob brings a wealth of experience and a tireless commitment to individual liberty, free markets, and limited government”.—Libertarian Party SA

The Australian Family Party will be running candidates in every Lower House seat (47 in total) plus three in the Legislative Council – a total of 50 candidates.

With One Nation grabbing most of the headlines and the Liberals in disarray, SA’s Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas is now in an awkward position.

He has enjoyed extremely high personal approval ratings since becoming Premier and a 2025 YouGov poll showed the Premier’s net satisfaction rating at +70, a phenomenal number. Labor’s two-party preferred was also a whopping 67–33!

Malinauskas has dominated the news cycle with his ‘bread and circuses’ strategy of big-name events such as golf tournaments, beach volleyball competitions, motor sport carnivals and Katy Perry-type concerts.

Over recent months, however, a number of more substantial policy areas have begun to chip away at the Premier’s seemingly impenetrable veneer.

A toxic algal bloom has blighted the South Australian coastline and shows no sign of disappearing any time soon. His government is copping much of the blame for not acting when the bloom was first reported.

His key 2022 election promise to ‘fix ambulance ramping’ has not been fulfilled – in fact, ambulance ramping is worse now than it was in 2022!

State taxpayers are expected to lose $500 million on his government’s green hydrogen debacle.

State debt is climbing towards $50bn and South Australia, once considered the nation’s home-ownership capital, is now ranked the 2nd least affordable in Australia!

And he has introduced legislation into the South Australian parliament enshrining an Aboriginal Voice, despite South Australians voting overwhelmingly ‘No’ in the Voice referendum.

All of these add up and eventually reach a tipping point.

That tipping point could well be election day.

Can you help?

Are you available to do some letterboxing in your area or hand out some how-to-vote cards for us on election day – or better still, at early polling stations? If so, please contact us here.

Thank you for your support.

Authorised by Bob Day, Australian Family Party, 22 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Aussie Osborne – AUKUS 2026 Part 2

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Yesterday, in Part 1 of Aussie Osborne – AUKUS 2026, we looked at connecting Adelaide’s new maritime defence precinct with the northern Adelaide plains via a new gateway bridge over the Port River. An industry sector this size we said was going to need a massive amount of defence procurement support, including manufacturing, commercial, retail, education, housing, health, and other professional services. In Part 2 of our proposal, we connect these support industries with long-haul freight infrastructure. One thing is for sure – there will be a lot more freight and a lot more heavy vehicles on our roads as a result of this announcement.

“Fatal crash closes freeway”

This has become an all too familiar news headline in Adelaide.

Whether it’s taking children to school, taking farm produce to markets or long-haul interstate freight, road safety is paramount.

My first project when I began working at the SA Highways Dept in 1969 was the new SE Freeway. To be fair to the government of the day, when it designed the freeway, it did not expect the level of residential development to take place that has occurred since. The Adelaide Hills has become one of the fastest growing urban areas in the State and commuter traffic on the SE Freeway has increased exponentially. Long-haul freight transport has become incompatible with that level of commuter traffic. Truck drivers dislike the current SE Freeway situation as much as commuters.

A solution is available. A solution that takes trucks and semi-trailers off the freeway, off Portrush Road, off Hampstead Road, off Grand Junction Road and will get freight to the shipyards and new northern precinct quicker, safer and cheaper.

First let’s put things into perspective. Long-haul freight transport on the SE Freeway is mainly coming from Melbourne – a 740km journey. A new north-bound road from Murray Bridge, connecting to the existing Sturt Highway at the new $200m Truro by-pass would deliver freight to the northern Adelaide development precinct by-passing the SE Freeway and Adelaide’s suburban roads completely.

While adding approximately 70 kms to the overall journey – less than 10% of the distance from Melbourne – this non-stop route would not increase the journey-time. Adelaide’s suburban road congestion and approximately 30 sets of traffic lights between the Tollgate and Port Adelaide reduces freight transport to a snail’s pace.

According to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (Report No 148), the cost of building new highways in Australia is approximately $5m per lane per kilometre. A new 90 km four-lane Murray Bridge–Truro highway would therefore cost around $2bn. The safety benefits of such a project however would be incalculable and the cost of building the road would be recouped through increased productivity, fewer accidents and less suburban road maintenance.

To summarise these two Aussie Osborne – AUKUS 2026 reports, the new Osborne nuclear submarine announcement has changed everything.

The new maritime defence project is a $100bn endeavour spread over the next 30+ years. Again, to put things into perspective, spending a small portion of that amount to ensure the project works properly makes good sense. A new gateway bridge and a new Murray Bridge to Truro connection should be included in the overall cost of the maritime defence project.

As stated in Part 1 of this proposal, SA has been blessed with two great infrastructure visionaries in (former Premier) Tom Playford and (former Commissioner of Highways) Keith Johinke. Perhaps we could name the above infrastructure projects after each of them.

Thank you for your support.

Aussie Osborne – AUKUS 2026 Part 1

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Aussie-Osborne

Without doubt, South Australia’s biggest ever public policy failure was the abandonment in 1970 of the MATS Plan (Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study). The MATS Plan was a world-class road network for Adelaide’s future transport needs servicing a vibrant, emerging city. As a result of that ill-fated decision more than 50 years ago, SA has suffered incalculable cost, congestion and inefficiency due to its inadequate road system.

At that time, I was working for the SA Highways Department as a Laboratory Technician in the Department’s Materials, Research & Testing Laboratories at Northfield. Our then Commissioner Keith Johinke and all his staff were at the forefront of road transport planning and innovation. The excitement was palpable. Then came a change of government and the announcement that the MATS Plan was to be cancelled. It was an insane decision. All the land for the new road corridors had been acquired and the project was ready to go. So distressed was Commissioner Johinke by this announcement, he refused to sign the papers for the project’s cancellation, leaving it to an underling to carry out the Minister’s orders. The Department never recovered. Nor did Adelaide’s road transport system. I left the Department 5 years later to go into the private sector as did many others. In the 1980s the Department merged with a couple of other government departments and changed its name. A sad end to a once great institution.

Let’s not make that same ‘future planning’ mistake regarding the needs of the new Osborne submarine project which has just been announced. An industry sector this size is going to need a massive amount of support industries, including manufacturing, commercial, retail, education, housing, health, and other professional services.

In 1955, another great South Australian visionary, Sir Tom Playford, oversaw the growth and development of SA identifying that one key element for successful growth – cheap land.

The support industries for SA’s new maritime sector will need two things – affordable land, and easy ‘MATS Plan’ style access to the shipyards. Do not underestimate the importance of transport access.

Adelaide’s north can provide the land, and a new world-class gateway bridge over the Port River can connect the naval precinct with the northern Adelaide plains. Such a bridge and road system – perhaps even a rail line down the middle – would provide essential access to housing, supply chains and tourism opportunities – not to mention a ten-minute drive from the Edinburgh military air base.

The cramped suburbs around Port Adelaide are already under unsustainable pressure. Grand Junction Road is at maximum capacity. More traffic congestion, air pollution, the destruction of bio-diversity (bulldozing tree-lined streets and low-density housing) or increasing pressure on electricity, water, sewage, or stormwater infrastructure, in other words more urban densification, would be a disaster.

One thing is certain, the new naval industry will need support systems. We don’t want to be spending countless billions of dollars retrofitting like Adelaide’s current South Road debacle.

The Federal Government has given South Australia a new multi-billion industry. The SA State Government now needs to respond by opening up Adelaide’s north to supply this industry. Over the next 30 years tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs are there for the taking.

In 2013, I was elected to parliament on a platform of “every family, a job and a house”. If every family had a job and owned a house, I argued, the benefits to the state and the nation would be great indeed. Clearly, a lot of people agreed with me.

Adelaide as the new maritime defence industry capital of Australia has the opportunity to provide ‘every family with a job and a house’. Let’s not blow it.

Part 2 tomorrow.

 

Cult Fiction

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cult-fictionA fourth-year medical student had just finished top of his class at university.

His parents were so proud of him they gave him a holiday in Nepal for a month-long trek to clear his mind and prepare him for his next year’s study.

While in Nepal the young man met an Indian guru who told him of the futility of Western society and culture – always striving for success and being dependent on someone else’s failure so you can be successful. “That will never make you happy”, the guru told him. “Give up all this competitiveness and come and live with us in a community where we all love each other and where no-one is trying to take anything away from anyone else.”

The young man had finished five years of private schooling and four years of university and was ripe for this kind of influence.

He rang his parents from Kathmandu and said he was dropping out of medical school and going to live in an Ashram.

You can imagine how pleased they were to hear this.

Six months later they received a letter from their son:

“Dear Mum & Dad
I know you weren’t pleased with me for dropping out of medical school, but I can’t tell you how happy I am. For the first time in my life, I feel good about the way I’m living. I’ve got the poison of competitiveness out of my system. This new way of life is so in harmony with the essence of my inner being that in only six months I’ve become the No 2 disciple in the whole Ashram, and I reckon I’ll be the No 1 disciple by the end of the year.”

Irony and self-awareness were clearly not the lad’s strong suits.

The late Rabbi Sacks wrote, “Those who are naïve about human nature find themselves disappointed again and again.

“Revolutions, protests, and civil wars continually take place because people think that removing a tyrant or having a democratic election will end corruption, create freedom and lead to justice and the rule of law. People are surprised and disappointed however, when that does not happen. All that happens is a change of faces in the corridors of power.”

After the French Revolution, Napoleon was more dictatorial than Louis XVI. After the Russian Revolution, Stalin was far more brutal than the Czar, and after the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao was more autocratic and murderous than any of the Emperors of the Chinese dynasties.

Each of these tyrants – Napoleon, Stalin and Mao – as well as fomenting anti-sovereign hatred – also held a deep hostility towards God:

“We will never be free until we strangle the last king with the guts of the last priest”, proclaimed French philosopher Denis Diderot.

Charming.

As with our young man in the Ashram, what the people who support these tyrants naïvely overlook is the inability of human beings to prevent the abuse of power and position once it has been attained.

The threats to Australia – and the Western world – are not climate change or health epidemics or economic instability, they are in the slow takeover of every aspect of our lives by those who seek more and more power over us.

What we are witnessing is the ascension of a new authoritarianism.

“Know everything in order to control everyone,” said Adam Weishaupt.

And technology and mass surveillance will allow governments to do just that – know everything.

The State is accumulating more and more power – all, of course, in the name of ‘fighting crime’ or ‘public health’ or ‘protecting children’ or ‘social cohesion’. Yet it always turns out the same – a compliant and submissive population.

The Commonwealth Parliament, supported by both major parties, has just rammed through the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026.

As Liberty Itch’s Steve Holland reports, “The subsequent political fallout for the so-called ‘Liberal’ Party comes as no surprise.

“The Liberal Party is no longer the liberal political movement it once claimed to be. Justifiably, the Nationals aren’t interested in a coalition partner that has abandoned its principles by supporting laws that are completely antithetical to its stated values and platform.

“It is a bitter betrayal by those who claim to safeguard our liberties. While primary blame lies with the Labor Government for concocting such appalling laws, the Liberal Party’s complicity is especially disgraceful given its supposed commitment to free speech and individual freedom. As is often the case, hypocrisy amplifies the backlash.”

In England, zone restrictions have been introduced preventing motorists from driving from one part of town to another.

In Holland, banks are tracking what people spend their money on with a ‘carbon emissions summary’ – from food to airline tickets to petrol – noted on their receipts.

In Australia, smart meters are being used to control people’s power usage remotely.

What you buy, what you say, where you go, how much power you use …

Sig Samuel wrote, “This is religion minus all the God stuff. These atheists are more religious than Christians!”

The State, its gurus and high priests every bit as dogmatic and dictatorial as you’ll find in any sect, cult or Ashram, has become the new religion.

We must stand firm.

Thank you for your support.