The nanny state wants to think for us

Every time those in love with their own expertise seek to regulate what people buy or wear or put in their mouths, they gloss over the fact that the people who shop and the people who vote are the same people.

Secondly, simply because individuals can make poor decisions does not mean governments make better ones. There is abundant evidence they generally don't, and because governments are so large, their bad decisions have far more expensive and destructive consequences: think of the failure of the State Banks of Victoria and South Australia in the 90s, and the pink batts scandal.

Finally, while people may eat unhealthy food or have poor taste in entertainment, they can be skilled at exercising political choice. The reverse also applies. For decades, many intellectuals supported communism, a political system that amounted to little more than a licence to murder.

Chairing the Nanny State Inquiry taught me that if we let other people think for us, we will never think for ourselves.