If not, you can watch it here.
I've written about this guy before, as he is clever enough to see through the Emperor's new clothes of plain packaging too.
For every problem the government tries to solve, it often creates at least one more with no guarantee of fixing the initial problem. That appears to be the case with the former government’s laws mandating the plain packaging of tobacco.There have already been comments, though, that he's banjaxed his career for having the temerity to utter what is blindingly obvious, and exposing NGO and governmental lies into the bargain.
However, everything he says comes from a principled stance of libertarian thinking summed up in this video about unnecessary restrictions on motorcycles ... because they're dangerous and so must be discouraged by the state, natch.
Official attitude to road safety for bikes insist that Big Brother knows best. Bikes are not for everyone but how you choose to get around is up to you, it's a personal decision. If you have an accident on a bike, you are more likely to be injured than if you're driving a car. Riders know that and accept the risk. That means it's not the business of government, it's a matter of choice.
We support your right to live your life without government interference, as long as you respect the same right for others.Quite. It's common sense that only those whose well-paid careers consist of subverting common sense and installing themselves as arbiters of other people's choices can deny.
It matters not what subject the Senator comments on, this principle runs through everything he says, from illiberal anti-terror laws to attacks on free speech and the right to assisted suicide.
He also understands his country's farcical stance on e-cigs very well.
The ban-by-default of e-cigarettes containing nicotine suits zealous public health advocates just fine. They argue that something should be banned until it is clearly demonstrated to be harmless, since we are all incapable of deciding for ourselves. Such reasoning would have banned every human innovation before it could become popular, from the wheel to the internet. We would truly be in the dark ages.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that their primary goal is to achieve a puritanical victory against nicotine rather than to save lives. It's not really about the smokers, it's about them. Like Marie Antoinette, they say to the smokers who could benefit from e-cigarettes: "Let them go cold turkey".
But the weirdness doesn't stop there. While it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes in Australia, it is perfectly legal to import up to three months' supply of e-cigarettes, with or without nicotine. So our Government intentionally lets foreign online businesses do the exact thing that they ban Australian businesses from doing. It's reminiscent of the line: "No sex please, we're British."
And it is illegal, at least in some Australian States, to sell e-cigarettes to deliver non-nicotine flavours, because – horror of horrors - someone might see someone put something to their mouth. It's like a ban on dancing because it can lead to fornication.Such common sense is ensuring that Australia's lone liberal attracts plenty of column inches and, by extension, a lot of support in a country so riddled with dictatorial and oppressive laws as Australia.
By contrast, to defend their cosy status quo his state-adoring detractors (as Chapman proves) can fire little else but insults and snooty, ignorant arguments from authority of established political thinking (you know, the political thinking which has seen politicians recognised as a despised class worldwide).
There is even the accusation that he shouldn't have been elected in the first place because his placing on the ballot paper was an invitation for donkey voting, but how delicious is it that someone who rightly preaches about the dangers of authoritarianism could have been given power by a fault inherent in the authoritarian policy of compulsory voting in Australia.
And it is real power too, since Leyonhjelm holds a part of the balance of power in the stalemated Aussie Senate. In a 76 seat assembly, no party or aligned coalition can make the 38 votes for a majority which means they all have to ask him for his support.
Long may the Senator make the headlines, as he did worldwide yesterday, and get people in Australia talking about good old-fashioned common sense. Lord knows the basket case country needs it.
