Author: Dr Chavura
Dr Chavura
Dr. Stephen Chavura teaches European and Australian history. Prior to Campion he taught the philosophy of social science and political theory and several Australian universities. He has published in numerous journals including History of European Ideas, Journal of Religious History, and Australian Journal of Political Science. His most recent (co-authored) books are The Forgotten Menzies: The World Picture of Australia’s Longest Serving Prime Minister (MUP, 2021) and Reason, Religion, and the Australian Polity: A Secular State? (Routledge, 2019).
Some are saying the Victorian election result was rigged. It wasn’t. This isn’t Arizona. The only reason someone could be shocked at the Victorian election outcome is if they misjudged Australians to be freedom loving. Aussies like freedom, but they don’t love it. They can live without it. The truth is that Aussies tend to see government as a “vast public utility” that helps us and makes our lives easier. They don’t see government as a freedom-enhancing institution, but as a utility-enhancing one. And what is more useful than being kept “safe” from a deadly virus? Well, nothing! And who…