WHY vs WHY: Big Australia

Jessica Brown

Oliver Hartwich

Mark O'Connor

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WHY vs WHY: Big Australia

Jessica Brown

Oliver Hartwich

Mark O'Connor

In WHY vs WHY™ Big Australia, we pit opposing  writers against each other, Jessica Brown & Oliver Hartwich (YES) vs Mark O’Connor (NO). They go head-to-head, each side presenting 7 key reasons why you should say yes/no to Big Australia.

After each side presents their arguments, the opponent then tries to tear each of them apart, both in the book & on this website (with further rebuttals). For readers, we aim to leave nothing unanswered.

Jessica, Oliver and Mark are good writers with strong, well-argued opinions. Who will you agree with? Will one of them change your mind? Read the book & find out.

In WHY vs WHY™, you get both sides, so you can decide for yourself… The books are also a great tool to help you convince others, people who don’t see the light the way you do. Buy them a copy!

 

“… very readable… well-thought-out arguments… well worth a read… very provocative… It’s a book you can read after dinner with a cup of tea…” – Natasha Mitchell, ABC Radio National

Available as:

  • First Edition
    Published 27/08/2013 ISBN 978-1-921997-12-9 Pages 128pp
    $19.99

Jessica Brown

Jessica Brown

Jessica Brown

Jessica Brown - Author of Why vs Why: Big Australia (co-written by Mark O'Connor and Oliver Hartwich).

Jessica was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies.

She is now working for The Economist in Hong Kong - her research focused on population, family policy, welfare reform, disability pensions, parental leave and foreign policy. She has published widely in these areas.

Jessica has been published in major newspapers such as the Sydney Morning HeraldThe Australian and the Herald Sun, and has appeared on television programs such as Q&A, The Drum, and Today Tonight as well as on radio programs around Australia.

She holds a Master of International Studies from the University of Sydney and Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) from the University of Melbourne, where she majored in Political Science.

Jessica Brown and Oliver Hartwich are authors of Populate and Perish: Modelling Australia’s Demographic Future, and Why A Growing Australia is Nothing to Fear, both published by the CIS.

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Oliver Hartwich

Oliver Hartwich

Oliver Hartwich

Oliver Hartwich - Author of Why vs Why: Big Australia (co-written by Jessica Brown and Mark O'Connor).

Oliver Marc Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative in Wellington. Before that he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies from October 2008 to April 2012. His area of expertise is local government and federalism, urban economics, European affairs and Industry policy. He was previously, the Chief Economist at the British think tank, Policy Exchange, London.

His publications with Policy Exchange mainly dealt with housing and planning, urban regeneration and transport policy. Before that he worked as an adviser to Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay in the UK House of Lords. He studied Business Administration and Economics at Bochum University (Germany). After graduating with a Master’s Degree, he completed a PhD in Law at the universities of Bochum and Sydney (Australia) while working as a Researcher at the Institute of Commercial Law of Bonn University (Germany).

Jessica Brown and Oliver Marc Hartwich are authors of Populate and Perish: Modelling Australia’s Demographic Future, and Why A Growing Australia is Nothing to Fear, both published by the CIS. Oliver Marc Hartwich is author of Australia’s Angry Mayors: How Population Growth Frustrates Local Councils (with Adam Creighton) and Selection, Migration and Integration: Why Multiculturalism Works in Australia (And Fails in Europe).

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Mark O'Connor

Mark O'Connor

Mark O'Connor

Co-author, Why vs Why: Big Australia

Mark O’Connor (b. 1945) is an award-winning Australian poet and environmental writer with a special interest in population.

He is an editor of the Oxford University Press textbook Protected Area Management: Principles and Practices (2001). He is the author of This Tired Brown Land and co-author of Overloading Australia: How Governments and Media Dither and Deny on Population, the book which Dick Smith sent to all Australian MPs and mayors in 2010.

He has taught at James Cook University, University of Aarhus, and the Australian National University, and has been the ANU’s H. C. Coombs Fellow, and thereafter a Visiting Scholar in its Department of Archaeology and Natural History. He has also been the Museum of Victoria’s Thomas Ramsay Science and Humanities Fellow, and served for a decade as National Vice-President of Sustainable Population Australia.

Mark has published 16 books of verse, and is the editor of Oxford University Press’ Two Centuries of Australian Poetry.

He is a frequent voice on a range of ABC radio programs.

 

More about the author

“I think it’s a terrific idea…It’s a series of small but perfectly formed books…it’s a very civil little series of books…  a good way of presenting these sort of issues.”

“…a balanced approach to controversial issues…”

“I like the way this is presented… a very helpful little series…”

“Each side gets to make its case and rebut its opponent… There’s no name-calling or irrational ranting, just the main arguments, pro and con.”

“Pantera Press has come up with a great new idea to foster debate on complex topics… a series of pocket-size books that tackle both sides…”

“… a smart-aleck’s guide to winning arguments at the pub….’ ‘I just love it… a quick read, an informative read, and a cheap read… under $20…”

“Each book in the WHY vs WHY series focuses on a hot-button issue… and two prominent thinkers do their best to convince readers to embrace their position.”

“…for those who pride themselves on arguing the facts rather than on pure emotion, a new ‘double sided’ book from Pantera Press might come in handy – flip the book around one way and read the ‘no’ case… then flip it over again to read the ‘yes’ case…”

“… You can read it at your leisure.”

“… very readable… well-thought-out arguments… well worth a read… very provocative… It’s a book you can read after dinner with a cup of tea… wonderfully even handed Pantera Press book.”

“…A really good idea…”