Ron Manners AO
Speaking in Buenos-Aires, Argentina
Liberty International World Conference
August 2025
Travelling from Australia to Argentina reminds me of something Saint Augustine once said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page.”
Well, after three long flights I feel as though I must have read at least a complete library.
There are some tremendous similarities between Australia and Argentina and some amazing contrasts.
I have to remind myself that rule #1, when anyone is travelling away from home they must never say anything disparaging about their home country.
Your natural loyalties should over-rule any temptation to criticize and risking being identified as a traitor!
On that basis, I will avoid any emotional judgements and just stick with the facts.
One standout similarity is that Australia and Argentina both compete with one another to be the greatest country in the world in which to live.
No question about that.
The stark differences become apparent when judged by the other two main criteria being: –
Both depend on the often temporary economic and political circumstances.
There are some interesting comparisons between Argentina and Australia. Around about 1901 we were the two most prosperous countries in the world. Since then, it has been a rocky passage for both countries. The other thing in common is that our countries also contain some very bright people. For instance, here are three major inventions to come out of Argentina: –
And here are three notable inventions and patents to come out of Australia: –
Notable is the fact that many of these inventions were made by people not born in Argentina or Australia but having moved there. Both countries are largely populated by people who have come from somewhere else, and they are most welcome when they bring skills with them.
Another piece of good news, is that if you are from Argentina, Australia or Japan you have the highest chance of living a long and healthy life.
This all brings me around to contemplating where our two countries are right now and, importantly, where they are heading.
So far, I am optimistic for Argentina under a President who is thoroughly skilled in Austrian, free market economics. Whereas, in Australia, under the spell of a Trotskyite Prime Minister, I am not so sure?
There is one quick fix for Australia, and I will reveal this to you for the first time ever. I am here in Argentina on a secret mission and as I am with you all, as friends, I will confide that in my efforts to rescue Australia, I am here today to kidnap your President, Javier Milei. I will call that Plan A and to get him into Australia, I already have an Australian Passport in his name – here it is.
So, let me ask you to introduce me to your President, sometime between today and Sunday, so I can execute this Kidnap Project and successfully pull off my Plan A.
Meanwhile, let us look at a few other comparisons between fixing things methodically, as you have done in Argentina, clearly indicating in your successful conquering of inflation. This could be our Plan B.
Argentina and Australia — we are now on our own.
We are on our own now; no longer any role models, no one to automatically protect us from external threats.
We need to work hard to negotiate our way into various alliances, and we must always have something to offer.
The world has changed in the last few years, for Europe, South America, and Australia.
President Trump is honest enough to realize that the USA has nearly bankrupted itself, by pursuing the role of international policemen.
He has had to call a halt.
This has given the world a jolt and we are faced with the task of arming ourselves and defending ourselves.
Will our politicians be honest and tell us that this new expense is ‘instead of enjoying our endless entitlements,’ or will they simply add it to the Credit Card Debt to be left to the next generation? Will they be honest enough to remind us that governments’ efficiency rate is around 12 ½ %. Meaning that for every one dollar they spend, they have to raise $8 from the taxpayers.
No government is honest enough to tell you this.
Here is an unrelated example from Western Australia’s State Government:-
Our State Government provided a valuable service in removing trees that were infested with Polyphagous shot-hole borers.
That is okay but then in a vote-seeking gesture they promised to pay the tree owners $150 per tree removed, instead of charging the owners for the service they provided. In their announcement you will see that they say this program will cost $7M.
They lie. The actual cost for the taxpayers will be eight times that, being $56M. Now you are talking, real money.
If we all remember that eight dollars must be raised from taxpayers for every one dollar spent, you will develop a good case for all governments to do less for us, and not more!
One important legitimate role of government is to defend us, and they could afford to do this by doing less in other non-priority areas and not adding to the national debt.
Productivity Summit – economic roundtable in Australia
In Australia, our government has called for a major summit, this month.
A nationwide gathering of major ‘players’ (many travelling First Class on the ‘gravy train’).
They are to examine why Australia’s productivity is dropping like a stone.1
Our government does not know why.
This is not a surprise as Trotskyite governments do not prioritize creating prosperous and independent citizens.
Of all the advisers currently heading off to Canberra to advise our government, only one has suggested – in his words –
“The government should also consider reducing its spending.”
His name is John Poynton, a respected Company Director, from my home state of Western Australia.
How could our government reduce its spending? Let us look at this recent chart from The Economist Magazine
I will leave this slide there for an extended period so you can all copy it and ask the question, “Why is the Australian Government calling a nation-wide summit, when the problem is so obvious to all who care to look at this publicly available chart.”
The problem confronting Australia is simply ‘Government Bloat’.
Government Bloat has driven productive people from many countries where the burden becomes unbearable.
My friend, Leon Louw from the Freedom Foundation in South Africa, describes this bloat elegantly — “Liberty dies not with gunfire, but with paperwork. Not with tanks in the street, but with ‘just one more paper form.”
The two most portable things are People and Capital. There are now more Australian citizens living off the Government than are contributing to this burden.
More people voting for a living, than working for a living. I will add a footnote of a humorous YouTube of businesspeople and company directors being driven from the U.K. It is such a good YouTube that you will want to share it widely.2
I have mentioned that both of our countries are nations so rich it has taken governments, over many years, to do such severe damage that we are now confronted with the rebuilding process.
Let me tell you something humorous about our Australian Government. Their lack of self-awareness poses a danger. Perhaps someone in our government has suggested that they pay attention to what is happening in Argentina?
Possibly one of their researchers turned up some old information which indicates that some guy called Peron was in charge, so they have adopted some Peronist policies for this summit. Hopefully, they feel that this will give some credibility to their creation of a rent-seeker’s paradise, where sprawling corporate interests feast on public funds while ordinary households grapple with soaring power bills.
Productivity is out; punitive tax increases are in.
I have included, as a footnote, a link to the detailed article describing this bizzare aberration. The article is called Don’t Cry for Me, Australia. Fascinating reading.3
Now in case you think I am far too cynical about governments of all kinds (except your own tightly focused reformist government) let me quickly flash up two other graphs and draw your attention to one thing that governments do extremely well.
Let me look at a few other comparisons between our two great nations.
I hope to update this chart and develop a similar Argentinian version. What does this chart tell you? Governments excel at one thing and that is ‘destroying the value of our currency’.
Now to Conclude:
I have not yet had a chance to read Argentina’s Constitution, but I have had experience in Australia at calling on our Constitution when bogged down by what we call our Kangaroo Courts.
I wrote a poem about that in 2023.
Proudly Optimistic
The dictators, are not,
about solving the problems, of their people.
They are only ‘solving the people’,
who they see to be the problem.
Learn more about
our Constitution,
under threat,
from time to time.
Originally, put in place,
to protect Australian citizens,
from governments,
out of control.
Politicians take another view.
To them, the Constitution,
is there to protect
them from the people.
Yes, Argentina and Australia are,
their productive people.
Time to stand tall,
and be defiantly ‘proud’.
Thank you for reading. A follow-up “further reflection” article will be published shortly, to incorporate your feed-back and comments, as we invite below.
Regards,
Ron Manners AO, September 2025
The Impatient Libertarian can be purchased by clicking this link
Backbone Australia
The Backbone Australia Project, where we are devising methods of encouraging business and political leadership to step forward and speak freely. The reason there is virtually no business and political leadership is that the minute somebody speaks up they get their heads kicked in. Not a great incentive to be a leader.
Surely there is something we can do to incentivize heroism to encourage these potential leaders to stand up and speak up, instead of just simply continuing to bend over. Here is the information/website for BackBoneAustralia.com – https://backboneaustralia.com/
Footnotes
