Welcome to www.NevilleKennard.info

(a.) Intro
(b.) Neville Kennard’s 2010-12 Economics.org.au Column (65 items)
(c.) Neville Kennard in 1979 and 1983 (2 items)
(d.) Neville Kennard Obituaries/Tributes (11 items)

Neville KennardNev KennardNev KennardNeville Kennard(a.) Intro
Preaching and practising capitalist Neville Kennard had real world success. His name is more recognised and respected in Australia than the words “capitalism”, “free-market”, “libertarian”, “anarchocapitalist” and “classical liberal”. If only Kennard’s self-ownership and Kennard’s ire were household names like Kennards Self Storage and Kennards Hire.

Kennard was the first chairman, the first donor, distinguished fellow and emeritus trustee of The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS). The Bastiat/Ron Paul/Godfather of Australian classical liberalism, Bert Kelly, said of him: “splendid … speaks my languagebrave.”

So, perhaps his ideas should be respected as though he was intimately involved, for over a generation, with the world of think tanks and business. Perhaps his ideas are worth engaging with rather than mischaracterising and snubbing. Video and text of Nev on his history here.

(b.) Neville Kennard’s Economics.org.au Column (2010-2012)

  1. Welcome from Neville Kennard,” Economics.org.au, July 8, 2010. Excerpt: “CIS and IPA both involve themselves in ‘Policy’, and associate with politicians; this tends to legitimise governments and the gross violations of personal freedom that governments perpetrate on their citizens.”
  2. Think Tanks Don’t Work,” Economics.org.au, July 14, 2010. Excerpt: “My belief is that the Think Tanks are fundamentally ‘Statist’ in their position and points of view. They essentially want to have the same as we now have, but just a bit less of it. They still want The State, but a smaller one. They want bureaucrats and politicians, together with the media and the education institutions to heed their words, when all these institutions are themselves part of The State. The Think Tanks cosy up to politicians and so themselves become part of the problem, part of The State.”
  3. ‘Market Failure’: Just what the government ordered!,” Economics.org.au, July 22, 2010. Excerpt: “All Interventions have Unintended Consequences, which can be labelled Market Failure. How very convenient!”
  4. The Tragedy of the Tax Pool Commons,” Economics.org.au, July 29, 2010.
  5. Corporate Welfare,” Economics.org.au, August 5, 2010. Excerpt: “Business in Australia, including many large companies who should know better and who don’t need to be on the dole, accept government money. How pathetic! Why don’t they say to government ‘No thanks, we don’t need it or want it. Leave us alone, get off our backs and out of our pockets’.”
  6. Citizenship for Sale?,” Economics.org.au, August 12, 2010.
  7. I Don’t Vote,” Economics.org.au, August 17, 2010.
  8. Voting: Right or Privilege?,” Economics.org.au, August 27, 2010. Excerpt: “I have a very controversial, very Politically-Incorrect, very ‘discriminating’ view on this. This view is bound to be unpopular, and it has little chance of ever gaining political or electoral support. My proposal is that to gain the privilege to vote, you must be a Net Tax Producer.” Following the article is a similar proposal from Henry Hazlitt and John Stuart Mill.
  9. Stockholm Syndrome and our Love-Hate Relationship with Government,” Economics.org.au, September 2, 2010. Excerpt: “Could the same phenomenon explain the strange attachment people have for their politicians?”
  10. Civil Disobedience: The Rules of Engagement,” Economics.org.au, September 9, 2010.
  11. Should Respect for Law Extend to Bad Laws?,” Economics.org.au, September 16, 2010.
  12. Jaywalking as a Demonstration of Individuality,” Economics.org.au, September 23, 2010.
  13. Government Likes War,” Economics.org.au, September 30, 2010.
  14. Collusion is Our Right,” Economics.org.au, October 7, 2010.
  15. Why Not the Drug Olympics?,” Economics.org.au, October 17, 2010.
  16. Unconventional Wisdom,” Economics.org.au, October 28, 2010. Excerpt: “Sceptical thinking, contrary thinking, challenging the conventional wisdom, being curious, may bring you back to the conventional wisdom, or it may not; but at least you’ve arrived there of your own accord and not just followed the crowd.”
  17. Tiger Farming: An Alternative to Extinction,” Economics.org.au, November 4, 2010.
  18. Looking Backwards: Mont Pelerin Society Conference, Sydney, 2010,” Economics.org.au, November 11, 2010.
  19. Tax Avoidance is a Patriotic Duty,” Economics.org.au, November 19, 2010.
  20. Kennard Writes to IPA Review Editor,” Economics.org.au, November 21, 2010. Excerpt: “So, IPA people, you have missed the point. You need to publish and offer more work on radical Libertarian ideas, on Anarcho-Capitalist ideas, on the idea of Self-Ownership; more work challenging the very legitimacy of The State and the right of Ministers for Supporting Families (and their Shadows) to even exist.”
  21. Genocide by Welfare: A Tragedy from the Aboriginal Welfare Industry,” Economics.org.au, December 2, 2010.
  22. Separating Sport and State,” Economics.org.au, December 9, 2010.
  23. Your Home is Not an Investment,” Economics.org.au, December 16, 2010.
  24. Dick Smith, Celebrity Philanthropist,” Economics.org.au, December 23, 2010. Excerpt: “If there was as much public acclaim for Capital Preservation as there is for Capital Dissipation we would all be better off.”
  25. Introduction by Neville Kennard to Harry Browne’s “A Libertarian’s New Year’s Resolution,” Economics.org.au, December 28, 2010.
  26. Extend Politicians’ Holidays to Create Prosperity,” Economics.org.au, January 9, 2011.
  27. Entrepreneurs are Disruptive, and Bureaucrats Hate It,” Economics.org.au, January 19, 2011.
  28. What is a good Australian?,” Economics.org.au, January 26, 2011.
  29. Governments Like Employment But Hate Employers,” Economics.org.au, February 3, 2011.
  30. The Market Failure Industry,” Economics.org.au, February 10, 2011.
  31. Wot if …?,” Economics.org.au, February 24, 2011.
  32. The Tribal Chief and the Witch Doctor,” March 3, 2011.
  33. The Tannehills,” Economics.org.au, March 10, 2011.
  34. Democracy versus Property Rights and Prosperity,” Economics.org.au, March 17, 2011.
  35. Government Doesn’t Work, and That’s the Way They Like It,” Economics.org.au, March 24, 2011.
  36. Minarchy vs Anarchy,” Economics.org.au, March 31, 2011.
  37. Euthanasia and Self-Ownership,” Economics.org.au, April 8, 2011.
  38. The Right Policies to Fix a Depression,” Economics.org.au, April 13, 2011.
  39. Is Howard Our Best PM?,” Economics.org.au, April 21, 2011. Excerpt: “Howard, I believe, had quite a strong moral-compass; but the skilled politician had an even stronger electoral-compass, which caused severe deviation in the arrow of his moral-compass.”
  40. Tax Producers vs Tax Consumers,” Economics.org.au, April 29, 2011. Excerpt: “Tax consumers should be seen as second class citizens, not worthy of voting, and not worthy of being shown more than the absolute minimum safe level of respect by tax producers. Wouldn’t that be a change!”
  41. Where There’s a Queue, There’s a Business Opportunity,” Economics.org.au, May 4, 2011.
  42. Authoritarian Freedom,” Economics.org.au, May 12, 2011.
  43. Why Classical Liberals Should Debate Anarchocapitalists,” Economics.org.au, May 17, 2011. Excerpt: “I wish the think tanks with their classical liberal positions would reply and respond to my views as to the benefits to them of such classical liberal vs anarchocapitalist debates. Are they too scared? They have the talent, the scholars, the finance … Perhaps they don’t have the guts.”
  44. The Tyranny of the Majority,” Economics.org.au, June 17, 2011. Excerpt: “A democracy can be even more repressive than some overt dictatorships, as it may be easier to rise up against a dictator, because he (or she) can be easily identified; whereas, in a Democracy, the oppressor is harder to identify — it can be the system itself, it can be the freely-elected majority government.”
  45. If you could choose to whom you paid your tax,” Economics.org.au, June 24, 2011.
  46. Business Should Exploit Boat People,” Economics.org.au, July 2, 2011.
  47. The Immorality of Trade Unions, Economics.org.au, July 14, 2011.
  48. ‘America’ vs ‘The United States of America’,” Economics.org.au, July 23, 2011.
  49. Sweet Anarchy,” Economics.org.au, July 29, 2011.
  50. The Illusion of ‘Job Creation’,” Economics.org.au, August 5, 2011.
  51. Gold Is Money,” Economics.org.au, August 11, 2011.
  52. Guilty Capitalists,” Economics.org.au, August 18, 2011.
  53. Bureauphobia,” Economics.org.au, August 25, 2011.
  54. Prosperity vs Growth,” Economics.org.au, September 1, 2011.
  55. Capitalism vs Democracy,” Economics.org.au, September 9, 2011.
  56. More people = More fun,” Economics.org.au, September 15, 2011.
  57. Self-Ownership – the very idea!,” Economics.org.au, September 28, 2011. Excerpt: “It is rather outrageous, isn’t it, to assert the right of complete self-ownership, of total individual freedom and responsibility? Who ever heard of such a thing? Isn’t this just too extreme? Shouldn’t there be a little window of opportunity to regulate, to coerce, to tax — just a bit? Well, no! Once you start on this slippery slope, where does it lead? If you concede 1% of your personal sovereignty, your self-ownership, from then on it is just a question of degree. And if it is The State to whom you concede your sovereignty, then it is just a matter time before The State becomes part owner of you. The Communist State required 100% concession of self-ownership to itself.”
  58. Government will murder Neville Kennard if he doesn’t back away,” Economics.org.au, October 15, 2011.
  59. The Australian Dollar Has Been Cowardly and Criminally Devalued, Harming the Poor Particularly,” Economics.org.au, November 6, 2011.
  60. Is Taxation Theft and Government a Tax Cheat?,” Economics.org.au, November 12, 2011.
  61. My Journey to Anarchy: From political and economic agnostic to anarchocapitalist,” transcript and video, Economics.org.au, December 4, 2011. Excerpt: “[J]ust as you can choose your brand of toothpaste and supplier of groceries, so might you choose your security and legal services supplier instead of having a government monopolist forced on you.”
  62. Government Needs Bad Guys – that’s why they like wars,” Economics.org.au, December 22, 2011.
  63. What Is Obscene?,” Economics.org.au, January 17, 2012.
  64. Traffic Economics,” Economics.org.au, February 6, 2012.
  65. Wayne Swan stands on the shoulders of other intellectual pygmies,” Economics.org.au, March 27, 2012.

(c.) Neville Kennard in 1979 and 1983

  1. Neville Kennard, “Penalty rates debate,” The Australian Financial Review, March 13, 1979, p. 3, as a letter to the editor.
  2. The Tax Avoidance Imperative — Shows that Kennard’s support for the free market is not merely self-interest, as he does benefit from how difficult government makes it for competitors to arise against his established businesses. Bert Kelly praised it here and here.

(d.) Neville Kennard Obituaries/Tributes

  1. Neville John Kennard Passes Away – Entrepreneur, Adventurer, Libertarian …, by Sam Kennard. Excerpt: “In his typical entrepreneurial spirit, he introduced self-storage to Australia in 1973, when he developed a small storage facility in Moorebank. The storage business gradually grew with Nev’s astute property acquisitions.”
  2. Neville Kennard, R.I.P., by Prof Dr HHH. Excerpt: “He was a great supporter of the Property and Freedom Society and its most generous donor. In the short time that we knew each other Nev and I had become very close friends. I feel blessed to have known a great man, and I will sorely miss him.” Photos of Nev at PFS here.
  3. Neville Kennard Obituary, by Benjamin Marks (with comments by many others). Excerpt: “Nev was the oldest resident-Australian anarchocapitalist by about 50 years, and our most successful proudly preaching and practising capitalist by a far more significant margin.”
  4. Eulogy: Neville Kennard had Unconventional Wisdom, by Jennifer Marohasy. Excerpt: “Neville Kennard understood my approach to environmental issues. He visited me when I lived in the Blue Mountains. We discussed solutions to what some consider intractable problems. He understood that almost all environment-related science is now government funded and problem focused and that this severely limits the capacity of scientists to examine important issues from a truly independent perspective and freely publish evidence that may, in some cases, be contrary to current government policies.”
  5. The Iron Men, by Peter Wong. Excerpt: “He often stated bluntly how imprudent the Australian government was and then concluded: ‘Australians should learn from the example of Hong Kong. There should be more places like Hong Kong in the world.’ I was almost moved to tears by his words. I could hardly find people locally sharing the same thoughts about the marvel of this city. I felt blessed that I finally met someone who did.”
  6. Liberty Australia’s Tribute to Neville Kennard, on YouTube.
  7. July 2012 Kennards Kourier Tribute to Neville Kennard
  8. Peter Pockley, “Canny libertarian loved adventure,” The Sydney Morning Herald, October 24, 2012, p. 18; references Scott Rochfort, “Rinehart defender takes his case online,” The Sydney Morning Herald, March 20, 2012, p. 2, business.
  9. Liberty Australia Essay Contest from 2012
  10. Sam Kennard and Greg Lindsay announcing the Neville Kennard Memorial Oration at CIS Consilium (I think this will happen each year from 2012?)
  11. Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the ALS Friedman Conference, awarded posthumously in 2014