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FCP Australia is a place for thoughtful writing and podcast conversations shaped by lived experience, conscience, and a concern for how decisions made at a distance affect ordinary Australians.
For most of my life, I was focused on family, work, faith, and getting on with life. Like many people, I trusted that our institutions broadly worked as they should. That changed during the COVID era, when policies began to touch children, vulnerable people, livelihoods, and conscience in very real ways.
After Giggle v Tickle
The Giggle v Tickle litigation has ended, but the deeper contest over biological sex, gender identity and female-only boundaries has not. This article examines what the final judgment actually decided, what it did not decide, and why the case matters within a broader pattern of gradual legal and institutional change.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
43 minutes ago18 min read
Why I Made a Submission on Australia’s Digital Duty of Care Bill
Australia’s proposed Digital Duty of Care aims to address serious online harms. I lodged a submission asking whether the draft also contains sufficient safeguards for lawful expression, public-interest discussion and future regulatory expansion.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
1 day ago7 min read
FOI Update: How Far Should a Request Be Narrowed Before the Question Itself Disappears?
The Department of Health has asked me to narrow my COVID consent FOI again. I have agreed to give up further categories of documents, but not the legal question at its centre. This update explains what has been removed, what remains, and what happens next in the OAIC review.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Sep 48 min read
Who Do Student Unions Answer To?
When the National Union of Students campaigns politically, who authorised it to speak for the students it represents? The NUS-backed campaign against One Nation raises a larger question about representation, factional politics, institutional trust and the difference between having a right to speak and having a mandate to speak for others.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Aug 1511 min read
Two Very Different Questions
Who decides what a person is worth? In the final part of this five-part series, the argument moves from Fabian socialism, the administrative state and the market to the Christian answer: human dignity is given by God, not granted by a system.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Aug 1415 min read
What Christians Built, and What We’re Losing
Christianity did not need socialism to discover the poor. Part Four asks what Christians in Australia built from a radically different understanding of human worth, why those institutions matter, and what happens when neighbour, family and community are gradually replaced by administration.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Aug 1214 min read
What It Costs
How does a state grow without a single defining vote? Part Three examines Australian tax, debt, regulation, public administration and the Fabian concepts of gradualism and permeation, while asking what Australians receive in return.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Aug 915 min read
The State We Actually Have
Part One traced Fabian socialism into Australian Labor. Part Two asks what that inheritance looks like in practice, examining public consent, union power, institutional loyalty and the gradual expansion of government influence across Australian political and civic life.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Aug 714 min read
Who Owns the Conversation?
Who shapes what Australians hear, what governments hear, and which voices are quietly excluded before decisions are ever made? This first article in The Accountability Gap series examines Australia's media ownership, lobbying transparency and professional regulation to ask whether our democratic accountability architecture remains fit for purpose.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Jun 2714 min read
The Fifth Check, Part Two: What Would It Actually Take?
Australia's Constitution assumes citizens can see clearly enough to judge those who govern them. But what happens when the information environment that accountability depends on begins to erode? Drawing on Australian referendum history, Swiss direct democracy, and a Christian understanding of institutional fallenness, this article examines whether citizen vetoes and referenda could function as a practical fifth check on power, and what safeguards would be required for such a
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Jun 2323 min read
The Check We Never Built
Madison built three checks on power. He assumed a fourth: an informed public capable of judging government action. This essay asks what happens when the information environment itself begins to weaken that capacity, and whether democratic accountability can survive without it.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Jun 1718 min read
Christ at the Centre: Christian Political Philosophy and Australia's Forgotten Foundations
What happens when a nation forgets the foundations on which its freedoms were built? Drawing on the Political Philosophy Masterclass with Dr Christopher Reynolds and Steven Tripp, this article explores the Christian roots of human dignity, constitutional government, individual liberty, and the questions Australia has largely stopped asking.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Jun 933 min read
Who Targets the Church? How International Philanthropy Is Influencing Religious Freedom in Australia
Who is driving the push to remove religious protections from Christian schools and organisations in Australia? This article traces a documented pathway from international philanthropy and advocacy networks to legislative efforts in South Australia, examining how law, policy, funding, and institutional influence have converged in the ongoing debate over sex, gender, and religious freedom.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Jun 218 min read
Unequal Scales: Power, Stewardship and the Erosion of Australian Trust
Australians aren't demanding perfection from their leaders. They're asking something simpler: do the people making the rules still live under them? From indexed parliamentary pensions untouched by means tests, to negative gearing promises broken within a year of re-election, to regulators moving swiftly into the industries they once oversaw, this piece documents what the public record shows. No conspiracy required. Just attention.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
May 2119 min read
The Climate Scenario Reckoning: Climate Models, Public Fear, and Policy Consequences in Australia
For years, worst-case climate scenarios shaped public fear, energy policy, and cultural anxiety across Australia. Now, even leading climate experts are questioning some of the most extreme emissions pathways. This Christian reflection examines climate models, youth anxiety, energy costs, stewardship, and the consequences of governing through fear rather than wisdom, truth, and hope.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
May 198 min read
Update on my FOI Request: Why the Department of Health’s refusal on consent documents matters
An update on my Freedom of Information request seeking Department of Health records relating to informed consent during COVID-era vaccination policies, and why the refusal to release these documents raises broader questions about transparency, coercion, and accountability in Australian medical governance.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
May 143 min read
A Plausible Warning: Could Digital Control Quietly Take Hold in Australia?
A viral thread imagines a future where control isn’t enforced by force, but by access, bank accounts frozen, identities flagged, dissent quietly isolated. It may sound extreme, but the underlying systems are already emerging. A balanced, faith-informed look at what’s plausible, what’s not, and why it matters in Australia.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Apr 238 min read
Net Zero Governance Loop: A briefing document for Councillors.
A practical guide for councillors on understanding the Net Zero Governance Loop, and how to assess energy proposals grounded in real-world constraints, costs and community outcomes.
Guest contributor
Mar 176 min read
The Amos Case and Medical Governance: When Debate Becomes Risky for Doctors practicing Paediatric Gender Medicine.
The recent regulatory action involving psychiatrist Dr Andrew Amos has raised questions about AHPRA, medical governance, and whether Australian doctors can openly debate emerging evidence in paediatric gender medicine.
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Mar 96 min read
Why the Governor-General Cannot “Fix” Bad Laws, and What Voters Can Do Instead
Mark Neugebauer 24 January 2026 In recent weeks, as debate has intensified around Australia’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 , a question has arisen during discussions with some peers: Can the Governor-General step in and block it, or force it to be properly debated? So, I decided to do some digging, and the short answer is No, and understanding why matters if we care about constitutional restraint, democratic responsibility, and the limits of power
Mark Neugebauer - FCP Australia
Jan 274 min read
These annexures are shared for transparency and historical context. They reflect my thinking at the time they were written, not necessarily my current conclusions.
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