The conservative Maxim Institute has been handed a cash prize by an American organisation in recognition of its campaign against the Civil Union Act. The Atlas Foundation describes itself as a “leading international organization for supporting independent think tanks advancing freedom.” Maxim received just over $20,000 from Atlas's Templeton Freedom Awards Program, which “celebrates the contributions of non-profit research institutes (or “think tanks”) to the public's understanding of how to achieve a free society.” Maxim's managing director Greg Fleming said in a press release that the awards were for “Social Entrepreneurship” and “Institute Excellence.” Atlas, in their press release, said Maxim were recognised for “its advocacy campaign around a Civil Union Bill that threatened government intervention in the intimate relationships of private citizens.” The NZ Association of Rationalists of Humanists, seasoned observers of Maxim and their religious-right connections, is puzzled that Maxim has won an award from a libertarian organisation, and wonders what they told Atlas in order to secure it. “Maxim ran a campaign against legislation that widened people's civil liberties and it wins an award from a libertarian group,” says secretary Paul Litterick. “What's more, their campaign failed, but they still pick up ten grand (US) for trying.” Atlas say their awards programme “specifically honours promising young organizations, especially in difficult parts of the world where there are few independent voices advocating economic freedom, individual liberty, and limited government under the rule of law.” The Rationalists find this confusing. “New Zealand is hardly a country with few independent voices advocating this sort of thing. We invented it – it's called Rogernomics,” says Litterick. “More to the point, Maxim is not a libertarian organisation. It whines about state power when the Government is legislating to increase liberty and has statist solutions to many problems. It is interested in economic freedom only when it can see advantage for religious groups, such as privatising the education system. Its notion of the 'civil society' is based on moral control: as Maxim have parroted, 'a policeman inside your head, rather than one on every corner.'" Maxim have vigorously denied receiving funding from international sources on many previous occasions, even though this is not the first time they have received money from Atlas. In 2002, they received nearly $14,000 to conduct a case study of a privately-run foster care programme, the results of which are yet to surface. "Maxim is on the international gravy train, taking money from both conservative and liberal organisations," says Litterick. "I suppose this is a contribution to the Ignorance Economy."