John Roskam

Roskam was educated at Xavier College and the University of Melbourne, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degrees.

According to Roskam's byline on an opinion column in the Australian Financial Review, "during the 2001 federal election he worked on the Liberals' federal campaign".{{Citation needed|date=August 2016|reason=no citation from AFR}}

He has run for Liberal Party pre-selection and missed out a number of times.{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Party-faces-choice-new-blood-or-not/2005/06/17/1118869094822.html |title=Party faces choice: new blood or not |first=Jason |last=Koutsoukis |date=18 June 2005 |newspaper=The Age |accessdate=19 August 2016}}

Prior to his employment at the IPA, Roskam was the executive director of The Menzies Research Centre - a think tank for the Liberal Party - in Canberra.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

He has also taught political theory at the University of Melbourne and held positions as Chief of Staff to Dr David Kemp, the Federal Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, as Senior Advisor to Don Hayward, Victorian Minister for Education in the first Kennett Government, and as Manager of Government and Corporate Affairs for Rio Tinto Group.{{cite web |url=http://www.ipa.org.au/people/john-roskam |title=John Roskam |publisher=Institute of Public Affairs |accessdate=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831101253/http://www.ipa.org.au/people/john-roskam |archive-date=31 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}

With Gary Johns he has worked for the IPA, including on a contract with the federal government, to develop proposals to limit the role of nongovernmental organisations on public policy.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Despite positioning himself and the IPA as champions of free speech, Roskam fired Australian energy economist Alan Moran from the IPA for comments he made on Twitter in relation to Islam.{{Cite web|date=2014-08-25|title=Alan Moran dumped by IPA – a lesson for Abbott?|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/news-story/alan-moran-dumped-by-ipa--a-lesson-for-abbott/53a542d86b2dc02deab6da06769ff989|access-date=2020-12-19|website=www.theaustralian.com.au}} The sacking was justified by Roskam having reference to the personal views of Moran, expressed publicly, on his personal Twitter account.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Moran's sacking followed shortly after Roskam also stood down IPA research fellow Aaron Lane for satirical comments he had made years earlier on a micro-blogging site prior to employment with the organisation. In spite of Lane's remarks preceding his relationship with the IPA and being completely unrelated to his employment, Roskam opined that "What he did is entirely inappropriate. It's wrong".{{Cite web|date=2014-08-01|title=Liberal candidate stood down over homophobic tweets|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-01/premier-asks-candidate-to-stand-down/5641212|access-date=2020-12-19|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU}}

Roskam announced on 17 November 2021 that he would resign as executive director of the IPA in June 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/john-roskam-to-end-his-term-as-executive-director-of-the-ipa|title = John Roskam to End His Term as Executive Director of the IPA|date = 16 November 2021}} He also announced he would continue work to at the IPA as a senior fellow and complete his "book on the enduring relevance of the work of George Orwell".{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In April 2024, as a senior fellow, Roskam wrote an article in the AFR criticising the appointment of Sam Mostyn as governor-general of Australia.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-04 |title=A governor-general from the Chairman’s Lounge |first=John |last=Roskam|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/a-governor-general-from-the-chairman-s-lounge-20240404-p5fhcw |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150920022816/https://www.ipa.org.au/people/john-roskam Institute of Public Affairs's John Roskam] profile.

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{{succession box | title= Executive Director of Menzies Research Centre| before=Hon Dr Marlene Goldsmith| after= Jason Bryant| years=2001-2002}}

{{succession box | title= Executive Director of Institute of Public Affairs| before=Mike Nahan| after= incumbent| years=2005-present}}

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Category:Australian political philosophers

Category:Living people

Category:Australian lobbyists

Category:Academic staff of the University of Melbourne

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)