Working for the Brand by Josh Bornstein

Author:Josh Bornstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: POL039000, SOC026000, BUS038000, BUS030000, LAW054000, BUS097000, POL035000, POL046000
Publisher: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Published: 2024-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Academic Freedom and the University Brand

In May 2016, Daniel Andrews, the-then premier of the State of Victoria, delivered a powerful address to the Victorian parliament, apologising for the historical mistreatment of the LGBTI community. Andrews said:

We criminalised homosexual thoughts and deeds. We validated homophobic words and acts. And we set the tone for a society that ruthlessly punished the different – with a short sentence in prison, and a life sentence of shame. From now on, that shame is ours.

This Parliament and this Government are to be formally held to account for designing a culture of darkness and shame.

On behalf of the Parliament, the Government and the people of Victoria. For the laws we passed. And the lives we ruined. And the standards we set.

We are so sorry. Humbly, deeply, sorry.

As Andrews spoke, the rainbow flag was hoisted above the Victorian parliament. Weeks later, Roz Ward, a left-wing academic and activist employed by La Trobe University, posted an image of a rainbow flag on her privately accessible Facebook account, accompanied by satirical text: ‘Now we just need to get rid of the racist Australian flag on top of state parliament and get a red one up there and my work is done.’

Ward, a queer Marxist with a dry sense of humour, is perfect fodder for the culture wars. Ward had founded and led an anti-bullying program for schools established by the Safe Schools Coalition, which sought ‘to help school staff create safer and more inclusive environments for same sex attracted, intersex and gender diverse students, school staff and families’.1 The Safe Schools program had initially been adopted by schools in Victoria, and then expanded into other Australian states in 2013. At that time, the program received bipartisan support.

It was not to last. A right-wing backlash led by the Australian Christian Lobby, conservative politicians, and the Murdoch press saw the program become prime fodder for the culture wars. The program was variously condemned by this chorus for promoting ‘gender fluidity’, ‘cultural Marxism’, and ‘radical sexual experimentation’. Senator George Christensen linked the Safe Schools program to paedophilia, while the Australian Christian Lobby’s Lyle Shelton likened it to Nazi atrocities.

In February 2016, a review was ordered by the Turnbull government. The Review of Appropriateness and Efficacy of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia Program Resources was undertaken by Bill Louden, an emeritus professor of education at the University of Western Australia. It backed the program, finding that its opponents had grossly misrepresented it. Nevertheless, Ward remained a target of the hard right in Australia.

Ward’s satirical Facebook post depicting her preferred Australian flag was leaked to the Murdoch newspaper The Australian, which had virulently railed against Safe Schools for years. It seized on the opportunity to campaign to remove Ward from her position with Safe Schools. Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett — the chairman of mental-health awareness charity Beyondblue, which has been a major funder of La Trobe University — joined the attacks, telling journalists that if Ms Ward remained in her role with Safe Schools, he would personally argue against any further funding to the university.

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