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In Conversation with Henry Ergas AO: Free Speech, Democracy and Social Cohesion 

Hatred and intolerance have always posed a dilemma for tolerant societies, which rightly pride themselves on their freedoms, including free speech, academic freedom, religious freedom and the freedom of assembly. Yet while those freedoms are crucial to the strengths of democracies, they also make them vulnerable -- and increasingly so. They can be, and in Australia are, being used to destroy our institutions and our way of life but governments seem hesitant, if not paralysed, in the face of that reality. How we can best address that challenge is truly a crucial question for our future as a community and as a nation.

Henry Ergas AO has had an international career spanning academia, public policy and economic consulting. As well as spending many years at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, he has held academic appointments at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, the University of Auckland, the École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique (ENSAE Paris), Monash University and the National University of Singapore, and served as the inaugural Professor of Infrastructure Economics at the University of Wollongong. Ergas was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2016 for his distinguished service to infrastructure economics, higher education, public policy and the arts. He is a Columnist at the Australian and publishes widely in a broad range of areas.

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