Wart down under

Keith Windschuttle once again takes down Robert Manne, professor of politics at La Trobe University, and his twisting of the facts to prove the existence of a "stolen generation" of Aborigines and the Australian government's supposed policy of "breeding out the colour" of said abos.

For a professor of politics at an Australian university to write about a policy of the Commonwealth Government and to omit its most telling decisions is a serious dereliction of his public duty. At the very least, and despite whatever interpretation he wanted to place on these events, Manne should have reported the decision of the Cabinet [to not adopt a policy of breeding out the color], the advice from the Department’s Secretary that Cabinet requested, and the statement the Minister made to the House.

In failing to mention these three critical responses, while pretending the government gave “full endorsement” to the very opposite approach, Manne falsified Australian political history on an issue that he, more than almost any other academic commentator in the country, had the opportunity, the interest and the ability to investigate thoroughly and report honestly. If Manne can get away with behaviour of this kind, it would mean Australian universities no longer demand any standard of truthfulness from their academic staff.

In recent years, universities in other countries have not tolerated such breaches of their expectations of proper academic conduct. When credible public accusations have been made, they have appointed independent investigations into the charges. At the University of East Anglia, the head of the Climate Research Unit, Professor Phil Jones, has recently stood down from his post while a review is conducted into allegations that his unit’s climate scientists have engaged in misconduct.

In 2005, the president of the University of Colorado stood down Ward Churchill, a Professor of American Indian Studies, and appointed a panel of academics from both within and outside his own institution to investigate public charges of academic misconduct against him. In May 2006, the committee found Churchill guilty of falsification and fabrication of history and of plagiarism. The president then dismissed him.

Not bad, roping Chutch, the CRU, and Manne together. Windschuttle, incidentally, calls for Manne to step down from his position.

(via slackbastard and Andrew Bolt)