Professor Matthew Ogilvie

The Spectator has published my opinion piece , which argues that the WA Parliament should keep the Lord’s Prayer, which is not only a prayer to God, but also a solemn symbol of the foundational Judeo-Christian values that made our liberal democracy possible.

I was honoured to be interviewed by Perth Dialogues about the move to ditch the Lord's Prayer from the daily opening of the WA Parliament. https://youtu.be/a8kSy3YCqJk?si=swW4Zd19bXyeRSDZ 

 Why do the Greens oppose action against regimes who want them, and Australians in general, dead…? The answer is complex, but one factor seems to be an entrenched shared outlook of ressentiment, which Nietzsche argued was a deep-seated and reactive anger that emerges from perceived weakness or impotence. The Iranian regime, and their Hamas and Hezbollah proxies, would oppress and even execute the Greens and their voters for their support of secularism, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and gender ideology. But ressentiment, victimhood, and the politics of grievance appear to override principles, core values, and even self-preservation. To read more, please visit  https://www.spectator.com.au/2026/03/why-do-the-greens-support-people-who-want-them-dead/

In the context of US-Israeli attacks that have decapitated the Iranian leadership, prophets of doom are already predicting an Iranian descent into the chaos and violence seen in surrounding Arab nations. I believe that such prophecies are based on a superficial account of the region’s history, while deeper knowledge gives us hope. Despite civilian suffering, and the risk of chaos, Iran’s deep history and culture will help them endure. For starters, doomsayers neglect the decades-long internal pressure for change...... ... One can never guarantee success, but the Iranians have a solid chance to avoid the failures of other states in the region. For that reason, I think we can be more optimistic than the prophets of doom. To read more, please visit The Spectator at  https://www.spectator.com.au/2026/03/reasons-for-hope-in-irans-future/

  I’m honoured to have been interviewed by Nirmal Singh for the “Perth Dialogues” program. https://youtu.be/-Fn6Yr7JomY We covered the “ Bondi attack response, Antisemitism, Free Speech, Gun Laws, Migration.” There’s a lot there, so I have linked directly to individual questions/topics that may be of interest.   01:50 The Bondi Terror Attack: Context and Significance 03:24 The Security Situation for Jewish Australians 04:58 Australian counter-terrorism capability (comments from Lt Col Itay Gil) 07:39 Understanding Hanukkah and Its Importance 11:20 The message sent by the terrorists 13:42 Calls for a Royal Commission: Community Demands 15:46 Can the Prime Minister be Trusted? 18:57 Two-tiered/unequal law/migration enforcement in Australia 21:45 Exploring the Drivers of Terrorism (Ideology, incitement) 24:34 Does terrorism/Bondi really have “nothing to do with religion”? 28:07 The Concept of Intifada and Its Implications 29:03 Antisem...

 The issue of fake degrees from overseas has hit the news. But this is not a new issue. Concerns have been raised for years -- it has been claimed that people are being admitted to Australian universities based on fake qualifications from overseas. To its credit, the ABC has covered this issue, but insufficient action has been taken. The worst example that I read was of students who were supposed to have IT degrees, but many of these students "seemed to be unable to understand instructions or understand the material that was put in front of them, and there were, also, cases of students who apparently didn't understand how to use a computer in any sophisticated way, so even logging on was a struggle for some students. There were also stories about students not recognizing what a USB stick was and other incidents which you would not expect to see from students who have an IT degree."  ABC: Cash Cows  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-06/cash-cows/11084858 ABC: Degrees of ...

The failures of this government’s leadership made the Bondi attack inevitable. How many attacks with the same ideological profile does it take to wake Australia up? Labor’s ideological blind spots have failed the nation. A coalition committed to unity, robust intelligence, and the unapologetic defence of democratic values is essential. Terrorism thrives on apathy; only decisive action can reclaim our safety. We now face the urgent question: Will Australia awaken before the next Hanukkah candle flickers? Please read more at https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/12/a-wake-up-call-for-australia/

I was honoured to be interviewed on Radio ZZZ for the L'Chaim program. We covered Hamas and the war in Gaza, Jewish faith and belief, and Western democracy. My interview starts at 3:20. https://omny.fm/shows/lchaim-to-life/lchaim-to-life-s14-e13-03-12-2025

 Not my writing, but a brilliant piece by John Ogilvie at "Backbone Australia." The Law is an Ass – The Kachana Station Donkey Story https://backboneaustralia.com/article/the-law-is-an-ass-the-kachana-station-donkey-story/ John Ogilvie explains how Western Australia's narrow-minded bureaucracy is condemning animals to death and undoing years of positive environmental management -- which has seen a dusty desert turned into a productive environment.

  Was Israel’s response to Oct 7 disproportionate? Accusations against Israel stem from emotive, unverified tolls and a shallow grasp of moral standards. My latest article, in the Australian Jewish News, argues against the accusation that Israel's actions against Hamas are "disproportionate." I argue that such actions confuse proportionality (the measures needed to neutralise a threat) with symmetry (the number of casualties). I conclude that Israel's response has been justified and that responsibility for the casualties rests with Hamas-- the unjust aggressor. https://www.australianjewishnews.com/was-israels-response-to-oct-7-disproportionate/

  The ‘Brides of ISIS’ narrative is a seductive myth that blinds us to reality. These women weren’t brides in a fairy tale; they were cogs in a death cult. To repatriate them blindly means that Australia courts the ghosts of Raqqa on our own soil. To read the article, please go to https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/10/isis-brides-and-the-ghosts-of-raqqa/

  The Australian Jewish news just published my latest article, “Why peace with Hamas remains an elusive dream: Peace with Hamas is impossible because the group's religious dogma demands apocalyptic jihad.” I conclude: “Leaders such as Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong think of Middle East peace in political terms. That may work for Israel and rational actors, but peace with Hamas falters not on politics but theology. Its covenant enshrines Israel’s elimination as an immutable truth, jihad as obligatory salvation. … Until Hamas renounces its genocidal creed... dialogue remains a delusion. The path to stability demands confronting this unholy alliance of faith and fury, not appeasing it.” https://www.australianjewishnews.com/why-peace-with-hamas-remains-an-elusive-dream/ 

  My latest article in the The Spectator Australia challenges the view of the WA Education Minister that "the record number of teachers leaving the profession is due in part to graduates who are ‘particular’ about their working arrangements and ‘fussier’ about their work than older teachers."... "Research, which was kindly supported by the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, highlights the real causes, which include inadequate teacher training. Up to half of new teachers leave within five years after graduation. 10-20 per cent of education graduates never enter the classroom. This high attrition is caused not by teacher ‘fussiness’ but by frequent failures in teacher training, declining entry standards, inadequate preparation for real-world challenges, and broader policy failures in higher education......" For more, please go to https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/10/the-teachers-exodus/

  "While Australia’s commitment to Net Zero has close to net zero impact on the world, it is destroying our economic base." Net Zero is not only bad policy and harmful to the economic climate, but also a serious threat to national security. Ordinary Australians are being forced to embrace solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. But where do they come from? To read more, please see the Spectator, 28 July 2025 https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/07/lets-abandon-the-cult-of-net-zero/

  For every opinion about Francis, or perception of him, there seems to be ample evidence to support a contrary viewpoint. ...  Francis did not have the clarity of the previous Popes, but he had a magnetic personality, and he even encouraged young Catholics to ‘make a mess’. The problem for interpreting Francis from the West is that most of us are accustomed to divisions on the left-right spectrum, or a liberal-conservative range of worldviews. Francis, however, was not located anywhere on either spectrum, but he came from a completely different perspective and worldview. Francis was heavily influenced by Peronism, the political movement heralded by Juan Peron and which had been ironically influenced in its formation by elements of Catholic social teaching. As a political ideology, Peronism regards praxis and personality as more important than principles. ..... [To read more, please see my article in  The Spectator , at   https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/0...

Liberal democracy, as we know it, could not exist without the values introduced to our culture by Judaism. American Founding Father John Adams claimed that “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In that light, it is important to affirm that Jewish tradition gave us the concepts of humanity and God that made our liberal democracy possible. ... To read more, please go to the Australian Jewish News at  https://www.australianjewishnews.com/how-jewish-values-led-to-liberal-democracy/

 My latest article in The Spectator  addresses the question "Is Peace Possible with Hamas?" I open by saying that " Such hope is naïve because the evidence is that while an end to the fighting may be possible with the Palestinian people, long-term peace with Hamas is near impossible. " I then argue that " Since its origins, Hamas has thus been ideologically opposed to peace with Israel. The organisation’s goal is to maintain the armed struggle until Israel is annihilated utterly. Instead of being open to a two-state solution, Hamas wants a one-state solution – a theocracy extending ‘from the River to the Sea’. This practically means eliminating Jewish people and raising ‘the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine’. The fanatical religious nature of Hamas means that while we could hope for peace between Israel and most Palestinian people, there can never be long-lasting peace with Hamas.   " I conclude by writing that " While peace may be possib...

It was an absolute honour to catch up with these great Australians,  Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price  and  Trish Botha - Liberal for the Senate .  With leaders like these, our country is in safe hands!

Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for economics for his work on famine, observed that famine does not occur where there is representative democracy and a free press. I argue that, by promoting free speech, Elon Musk is helping to attack the real causes of famine: information poverty and lack of representation. To read more, click here " Can Elon Musk solve world hunger? " https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/07/can-elon-musk-solve-world-hunger/

"Last year’s “Voice” debate brought into sharp focus the difference between Labor’s ideology and liberal philosophy. Liberalism embraces a few big ideas and lets the ideas’ natural power improve society from the ground up. Labor’s approach is to promote myriad small solutions from the top down, applying them with a paternalist mindset that tries to bend nature to fit Labor’s ideology. This mindset led to the fatally flawed “Voice,” which was a national top-down solution to issues that are fundamentally local."   To read more, please see pages 21-22 of  "The Contributor, A Journal of articles published by the Policy Committee of the Liberal Party of Australia (WA Division)"   https://www.contributor.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/The-Contributor_6th-Edition_2024_Compress.pdf