Academics warned: Free speech no longer voluntary

Academics warned: Free speech no longer voluntary

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AUSTRALIAN Education Minister Alan Tudge has given universities until the end of the year to enforce a freedom of speech code, threatening to use legislation if they refuse or cannot implement it. “You cannot pursue truth without freedom of expression. You cannot create knowledge without freedom of academic inquiry,” Mr Tudge said in a speech to the Universities Australia conference in Canberra on Thursday.

Ridd’s appeal matches Pell’s in national importance

Ridd’s appeal matches Pell’s in national importance

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THE High Court will soon have the opportunity of demonstrating that traditional academic freedom and freedom of expression are still alive in Australia. The decision they hand down in Peter Ridd v James Cook University will rank in importance with the Court’s unanimous decision concerning Cardinal Pell, reaffirming the presumption of innocence and that guilt be proved beyond reasonable doubt.