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ClimatEnerGeopolitics
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Peter Ridd court hearingDear All, We went into the High Court hearing in a hopeful frame of mind, and came out the same. Our lawyers led by Stuart Wood QC did a terrific job. We will now have to wait two or three months for the written decision to be handed down – whatever it might be. I was extremely grateful to all the people who came to the hearing. There was a contingent of cane farmers from north Queensland, and people from Sydney, Melbourne, a big group from Canberra including some ex-students of mine, and people from various other areas of SE Oz. We filled the top and bottom levels of the main gallery, and I understand they also opened up another courtroom with an audio link. Of course, there were covid restrictions in place, which reduced capacity. But it demonstrated to the media, which included the ABC, that there is considerable interest in the general issue of academic free speech and poorly quality assured “science”. Win or lose, this campaign, of which you are an important part, has already had a significant effect on universities. The Commonwealth government has already introduced legislation that would have made a big difference to our case, if it was not for the fact that our hearing was based on the laws of 2017/18. I have a feeling that the Commonwealth government will also be looking to see what else could be done to prevent similar cases arising in the future. Even if we lose, it will only demonstrate that what JCU did was legal – not what is right. Win or lose, I will not regret what we did, or why we did it. Win or lose, we will continue to the fight to reclaim our universities, and make some of our science organisations more trustworthy. |
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