Liberty and Society Student Forum 2026
Our 2026 scholars attended The Centre for Independent Studies, Liberty and Society Conference in Sydney! Read all about it.
Chloe Walsh
“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” This line, raised by Michael Brennan, captured the central idea of the CIS Liberty & Society Conference for me, that chasing a perfect society can end up threatening a free one. It was the thought I kept coming back to across the weekend.
The sessions ranged widely, from Mill’s harm principle and the marketplace of ideas, to Hobbes and the state of nature, through to Hayek’s account of spontaneous order and how the price system coordinates a society without anyone directing it. Brennan’s sessions were the ones I found most thought-provoking, and another of his points stayed with me just as much. He asked whether productivity grows gradually and evenly like yeast, or sprouts unevenly like mushrooms, taking off in different places at different paces. The answer, that it behaves more like mushrooms, made me think about how progress is less predictable than we assume, and harder to plan for than we’d like.
Peter Kurti’s session was just as grounded. He used an example as simple as our free beach parking in WA to illustrate a particularly Australian expression of fairness and equality, and it made me reflect on how the values that shape a society are often clearest in the small, everyday things. Outside the sessions, the networking was a real highlight for me. Getting to meet other young students who care about these ideas, and debating them openly over dinner with people willing to push back rather than simply agree, left me more convinced that a free society has to make room for imperfection and disagreement.
Jamie D’Mello
The Liberty and Society Conference hosted by the Centre for Independent Studies was an enlightening experience. There were several excellent speakers, who discussed a range of cultural, political, legal and economic issues. Firstly, Lukas Opicic was a fantastic legal mind who laid out the foundational principles of the law in Australia.
Joshua Forrester was another great speaker. A legal practitioner from Perth, he had some incredible insights on current political issues and expressed the power of free speech in our democracy. This was a very pertinent topic, following the hate speech laws which passed our Parliament in January of this year.
Michael Brennan was able to explain the economic state of Australia with great clarity. His presentation covered the housing crisis and how the current economy is making it difficult for young people to break into the housing market.
I particularly enjoyed Peter Kurti’s presentation on culture, religion and immigration in Australia. We’ve avoided the word ‘assimilation’ for some time now and I believe that it is worthwhile to bring this word back into the immigration debate. Peter Kurti agreed, saying that social cohesion is important for our immigrants in Australia, and considering the Bondi massacre, we have got to be more careful about our selection of immigrants into Australia.
Being a staffer for Senator and Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare Matt O’Sullivan, Parnell McGuiness’ presentation on types of young adults and the quality of Australian childcare was extremely enlightening. It was informative and gave me good policy to return with to the electorate office. I enjoyed the interactive session she ran, and I was quite interested in hearing the opinions of others in the room.
Overall, the Liberty and Society Conference was a fantastic experience and I am so grateful to be able to network and learn during my time there.
Maxwell Johnston
From Friday 22 to Sunday 24 May, I had the privilege of attending the CIS Liberty and Society Conference. The program brought together students from across Australia and New Zealand for a weekend of rigorous discussion, debate, and shared curiosity. It was a fantastic opportunity to hear from Michael Stutchbury, Michael Brennan, Lukas Opacic, Joshua Forrester, Parnell McGuinness, and Peter Kurti.
One of the most interesting sessions was Peter Kurti’s discussion on culture, religion, and the values that sustain a free society. He highlighted how the delegation of law‑making to bureaucracies, the rise of technocratic governance, and the erosion of shared moral frameworks create a vacuum; one that can be filled by fear, overreach, and a loss of civic discipline. Kurti argued that these trends contribute to rising costs, declining initiative, and an unhealthy concentration of executive power, producing what he termed “anarchic tyranny.” Kurti’s point about how the 2020 pandemic response took on a distinctly Hobbesian reality really stayed with me. It was a sharp reminder of how fragile our culture and institutional foundations can be when fear and specific interests become the dominant driver of public decision-making.
Joshua Forrester’s sessions on the role of law were equally insightful. He emphasised that advancing liberty requires not more law, but better law. Law that is principled, proportionate, and capable of protecting freedom without unnecessary complexity. His exploration of whether law can ever be morally neutral, and his discussion of the harm principle and non‑aggression principle, prompted valuable debate. His reference to the Roman historian Tacitus, “the more corrupt the state, the more amount of laws [are within that society],” captured the essence of his argument. It served as a clear reminder that an expanding legal framework often signals deeper issues, rather than a solution, within the political and moral foundations of a society.
Importantly, what made the weekend especially meaningful was the collaborative spirit among participants. The respectful debate, openness to challenge, and genuine engagement reaffirmed the importance of intellectual humility and open inquiry in shaping a freer and more resilient society.
A sincere thank you to CIS, Mannkal, the guest speakers, and all attendees for an engaging and fantastic weekend.
Abe Walsh
My experience at the CIS Liberty and Society conference was by far an eye-opening experience! Flying into Sydney, I was welcomed by all the CIS staff and guest speakers – I was first introduced to the CEO of e61 Institute, Michael Brennan, where given my background in economics we had a very interesting chat about the political and financial climate over breakfast. Following this, the conference formally began with Professor Lukas Opacic’s analysis of individual liberty and authority through the lens of philosopher’s Hobbes and Mill. What I found particularly interesting was listening to the other scholars who championed more from Mill’s perspective over Hobbe’s (and vice versa) and really understanding the differences between the two. Following Professor Opacic’s talk was Michael Brennan’s perspective of Liberty through an economics lens which was my favourite! (although a bit biased with my economics background.
Following all the sessions, the scholars collectively sat down over dinner and this was an opportunity for all the students to really seek a deeper level of understanding in a more informal context with the guest speakers. I found it particularly funny when people started speculating over who would win the next federal election! As the evening drew to a close, this opened up an opportunity to get to know the eastern-state scholars a bit more and explore Sydney’s CBD. We were fortunate enough to arrive in Sydney right in the middle of the ‘Vivid Sydney 2026’ light festival which lit up the whole CBD! From the Opera House to the Harbour Bridge, it was really amazing to see how different things were compared to the quiet life in Perth! The buzzing ambience drew us to a German restaurant suggested by the local scholars where we shared a delightful meal and formed wonderful friendships as the night came to a close! I’m truly grateful to have been apart of this years’ CIS cohort and am looking forward to going back to Sydney to reconnect with the CIS alumni!
