Friday, September 9, 2005

Howard government threatens academic freedom

As Peter McGregor noted in GLW #639, I recently resigned in protest from a committee of the federal government's National Health and Medical Research Committee (NHMRC) and called for a boycott by academics of government committees generally.

I believe the current attack on our universities by the Commonwealth government has gone too far for me to continue to serve on any of its committees. I therefore resigned from the NHMRC committee I was on and refuse to work for the NHMRC in any capacity.

Many academics sit on advisory committees to help the government devise policy on all sorts of things - health, agriculture, economic policy, etc. I am urging my academic colleagues across the country to join me in boycotting these committees.

In resigning I also attempted to draw attention to the fact that on two occasions while on the committee, to two separate academic members, I expressed concern that each had suggested that the committee needed to "cut its cloth" of its recommendations to suit what the government might find acceptable. One of these comments was prompted by the fact that I had suggested a heading for the discussion we had just had as "social justice"! When academic scientists sitting on such committees, instead of giving frank and fearless advice, begin to think in terms of what is palatable to government, we are in a sorry mess.

I do not blame the two committee members for what they said. The comments are, however, symptomatic of the problems we face in academia in retaining and practising academic freedom under this government.

I subsequently wrote to Professor Alan Pettigrew, the CEO of the NHMRC. In reply, Professor Pettigrew stated that I had implied that members of the NHMRC's committees had been "directed to tailor their advice and recommendations to suit political considerations". I had never implied such a thing.

The NHMRC deliberately misconstrued my reasons for resigning. By doing this, the NHMRC got themselves off the hook and failed to address the substantive issue that I was raising.

What is pleasing is the very considerable support I have received from fellow academics for my stand.

We do need to be vigilant today in defence of academic freedom. For example, I find it very worrying, indeed scary, that federal education minister Brendan Nelson was recently jumping up and down about the freedom of the University of Western Sydney to invite whomsoever they wanted to talk on their campus, in this case former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib. Minister Nelson, commenting on a forum on war, terrorism and civil liberties organised by the UWS students, said that he would seek an explanation from the vice-chancellor over Habib's appearance.

According to an August 24 news.com.au article, Nelson stated: "When I saw the report of that ...I immediately got on to the vice-chancellor's office out there at the University of Western Sydney ...to find out what on earth is going on."

It is ironic that the meeting Habib spoke at was on, among other things, civil liberties. Nelson might have learned a few things had he attended.

I have to wonder how often government ministers contact university vice-chancellors to get this or that stopped or investigated. I have it on high authority (but not directly from the vice-chancellor) that Amanda Vanstone rang my vice-chancellor to get me to shut up (although about what I do not know - it could have been many things). I heard nothing of this from my vice-chancellor - he believes in academic freedom.

Presumably, however, such ministerial contacting of vice-chancellors does sometimes result in a vice-chancellor trying to curb academic freedom. This is such dangerous territory. We must watch with interest what the UWS vice-chancellor does or does not do in the wake of Nelson's inquiry into "what on earth is going on" at UWS.

By Gavin Mooney posted 9 September 05

[Gavin Mooney is professor of health economics, director of the Social and Public Health Economics Research Group at Curtin University in Perth and co-convenor of thhe WA Social Justice Network]

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