Aspire Conference

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Aspire Conference

Confronting the grave challenges facing Australia, exploring solutions, and equipping leaders to deliver change. https://linktr.ee/aspireconference

23/08/2026

“Reliable, affordable energy is a precondition to our prosperity and security as a nation. But despite Australia’s abundant natural resources, energy has become increasingly unaffordable for everyday Australians.”

At the ASPIRE 2026 Conference, Zoe Hilton, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), emphasised the often under-appreciated role that energy plays in our nation.

Energy is an “input to everything”, without which our prosperity and security would collapse.

Yet despite the abundance of Australia’s natural resources, 1 in 5 Australians are now vulnerable to, or experiencing, energy hardship.

“Fixing Australia’s energy policy,” says Hilton, “has become more important than ever.”

We must recognise both the cost of ideological Net Zero policies and the fact that Australia’s contribution to global emissions is minuscule, prioritising the provision of cheap and consistent power to Australian households.

🎬 Watch the full clip, along with Steve Koonin's keynote address, on our YouTube channel (links in comments).

15/08/2026

How do we build a genuine mandate for political and social reform? How can everyday citizens raise the standard of a fractured public debate?

At the ASPIRE 2026 Conference, a panel of global keynote speakers, chaired by FORM Founder John Anderson, explored how real change occurs in our local communities and the nation.

The conversation spanned the massive challenges facing Australia’s future — from energy trade-offs and national security to the global depopulation bomb.

Each speaker reiterated that true leadership isn't just about top-down policy. It relies on individuals building constituencies of opinion through honest, regulated, and courageous conversations in their own patches.

🎬 Watch the full panel discussion on YouTube (see link in comments).

10/08/2026

“It turns out to be cheaper to put in an air conditioner than it is to change the weather.” (Chris Bradley)

At ASPIRE 2026, several leading energy experts discussed the central role energy plays in the modern economy, how the climate narrative has shifted — and what that means for Australia.

Hosted by journalist Chris Uhlmann, panellists Dr Steve Koonin, Chris Bradley, Zoe Hilton, and Aiden Morrison spoke about how governments and stakeholders globally are admitting the true cost of radical decarbonisation programmes.

With the collapse of the old energy narrative, they urged listeners to aspire for a future of energy abundance — seeing cheap, reliable, affordable power for everyone as an essential good.

As Bradley noted, the new narrative must be that growth is good, growth is possible, growth is for everyone, and that energy must be at the heart of that growth.

🎬 Watch the full panel discussion on our YouTube channel (link in comments).

01/08/2026

“Free speech is an error correction mechanism. No tribe, no party, and certainly no leader has a monopoly on the truth. Free speech allows us to say, ‘The Emperor has no clothes.’” (Claire Lehmann)

Where do we draw the line on free speech, and who gets to make that choice?

Founder of Quillette, Claire Lehmann, introduced the Human Rights Law Alliance's John Steenhof at this year's ASPIRE Conference to discuss the fragile state of free speech in Australia and its foundational importance for democracy.

She outlined the difficult tension between countering extremism and resisting unnecessary limits to freedom of expression.

🎬 Watch Lehmann's full remarks as well as Steenhof's address on our YouTube channel (links in comments).

24/07/2026

Building on keynote sessions by Sall Grover and John Steenhof at ASPIRE 2026, political commentator Peta Credlin hosted a panel discussion on the foundations and current state of free speech in Australia. The panel comprised women’s rights advocate Sall Grover, lawyer John Steenhof, Anglican bishop Rev Michael Stead, and barrister Louise Clegg.

Bishop Stead outlined the historical context that gave rise to the ideal of freedom of speech and articulated the subtle distinction between “awful speech” and “unlawful speech”. He also noted the proliferation of hate speech laws and legal pressures on free speech in the Australian context.

Steenhof explained the implications of hate speech legislation, which he pointed out frequently fail to adequately define terms like “antisemitism” and “hate” — effectively leaving the restriction of free speech in the hands of technocratic and managerial elites.

Clegg reflected on her own experience as a barrister working in employment law, where she saw firsthand the dire state of free expression: “It has gone to custard”. However, she has also observed anecdotal evidence of a shift in favour of freedom of speech.

Grover discussed her own lived experience facing the Federal Court for her gender-critical views and her frustration at legislators for their lack of courage in defending her right to express views unpopular in certain circles.

The panel highlighted the urgent need for individuals to be well informed on the foundations of freedom — and to be willing to act to defend and uphold them in their own circles and workplaces.

🎬 Watch the full panel discussion on YouTube (link in comments).

18/07/2026

“Research confirms what many of us intuitively know — which is that the modern family spends far less time together than their preindustrial counterpart. We know that strong societies require well-formed citizens, and that this formation begins long before adulthood.”

Introducing Erica Komisar’s keynote address on raising healthy children, researcher Brianna McKee discussed the historical and technological forces that fractured modern family dynamics.

She located the roots of this breakdown in the movement of men out of home and into the factories and mines of the eighteenth century. This radical social change was followed by a similar shift for women as a result of the gender equality movement, labour-saving technologies, and the upheaval of the First and Second World Wars.

McKee urged delegates to learn the lessons of history, which are backed up by research and highlight the foundational role of the family unit — and without which we will be unable to raise the next generation of resilient citizens.

🎬 Watch McKee's introduction and Komisar's keynote via our YouTube channel (links in comments).

11/07/2026

“Surely the greatest challenge — the one we must really tackle — is that we have lost confidence in our own values and the beliefs that birthed them, at the very time that we face great conviction and self-belief in those committed to tearing us down.”

Australia faces profound cultural and political challenges. John Anderson argues that beneath many of them lies a deeper problem: “the long shadow of complacency.”

Drawing on the work of Thomas Sowell, he argues that civilisation does not simply sustain itself. It must be built, defended, renewed and, above all, understood.

We have taken for granted our fundamental values and the beliefs on which they were founded, and when we lose an understanding of these beliefs and values, decline is inevitable.

Yet the institutions that have fostered freedom and human flourishing remain. The task before today’s leaders is not to abandon them, but to rebuild, renew and strengthen them—for ourselves and for future generations.

🎬 Watch the full address on our YouTube channel (link in comments).

09/07/2026

“There is no way at all that anything you do is going to affect global emissions. None. Even if you went to zero tomorrow, it would be wiped out by one year’s worth of growth from the rest of the curve.” (Dr Steven Koonin)

In his presentation at the inaugural ASPIRE Conference, former US Undersecretary for Science Dr Steven Koonin discussed Australia’s net zero policies, climate modelling, energy security, emissions, and the case for greater emphasis on climate adaptation. He reviewed Australian data around changing temperatures, rainfall patterns, sea levels, and other metrics, highlighting the distinction between human-caused and other variations.

While acknowledging that human activities contribute to climate change, Dr Koonin argued that climate models and emissions scenarios should be understood alongside their assumptions and uncertainties when informing public policy. He argued that changing geopolitical realities, growing energy demand, and new data call for a more balanced discussion of climate and energy policy.

He summarised his position as “The climate ain’t nothing, but it ain’t everything” and urged Australian leaders to develop their own informed opinion on climate and energy that recognises the need for energy abundance alongside climate adaptation.

🎬 Watch the full keynote address on YouTube (link in comments).

26/06/2026

“We have become absolutely convinced that decline is not inevitable. But that it takes a movement of people — dense networks of leaders — who will live sacrificially, humbly, and counter-culturally to reverse that decline.”

Speaking at ASPIRE 2026, Baroness Philippa Stroud — Executive Chair of The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) — endorsed the conference’s mission to create a network of Australian leaders who will work to cultivate the cultural, social, and economic foundations of our nation.

She reflected on the significant contributions made by many Australians, especially FORM’s founder, the Hon. John Anderson AC, to ARC since its inception in 2023.

Like ARC, ASPIRE is committed to articulating the West’s “better story” — fostering a community of courageous changemakers who can support the renewal of our civilisation.

🎬 Watch the full video on our YouTube channel (link in comments).

23/06/2026

Earlier this week in London, FORM Australia hosted a small gathering of Australians to reflect on the West's current malaise and consider strategies for personal and cultural renewal.

The Hon. Tony Abbott AC opened the evening with some preliminary observations about the state of Australia and the broader West.

We were also delighted to be joined by author and intellectual Rod Dreher, who shared his insights on the rise of radical voices on the Right, the need to understand young men’s experiences in the West, and the necessity of individual courage and conviction in forming resilient communities and families.

Like most of those present, Dreher is in London this week to attend The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) Conference, whose mission aligns closely with that of FORM and ASPIRE. Both movements are committed to articulating the West’s “better story” and raising up courageous leaders to seek the revitalisation of our civilisation.

You can subscribe to “Rod Dreher’s Diary” on Substack to read his reflections on the evening (link in comments).

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14 Darling Drive
Sydney, NSW
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https://aspireconference.org.au/

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