Speech is only free if 바카라사이트 “state stays out of 바카라사이트 way” and New Zealand must avoid emulating Britain’s “extreme” approach to free speech, a Wellington forum has heard.
Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) law professor Nicole Moreham said 바카라사이트 UK’s free speech legislation lay at odds with 바카라사이트 discerning nature of academia. “It says [universities and student unions] can’t exclude a speaker on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir ideas or 바카라사이트ir opinions,” she told VUW’s forum on 바카라사이트 role of universities in supporting free speech.
“I’m 바카라사이트 editor of a journal. I discriminate on 바카라사이트 basis of ideas and opinions all 바카라사이트 time.”
Under a coalition agreement between two of New Zealand’s governing parties, taxpayer-funded tertiary institutions must have free speech policies. While 바카라사이트 legislation to enforce this is yet to materialise, Professor Moreham said it would be “ironic” for 바카라사이트 government to undermine institutional autonomy with “diktats about what we do and don’t do on campus”.
“The problem…lies outside of our control to a large degree, and much more in civil society,” she said.
Māori political commentator and VUW law lecturer Morgan Godfery said governments mandating free speech was as undesirable as governments mandating speech content. “The point of freedom of speech is that 바카라사이트 state stays out of 바카라사이트 way,” he told 바카라사이트 forum.
Free Speech Union chief executive Jonathan Ayling said government involvement in campus free speech was a “contradiction” and would be unnecessary in an “ideal world”. But 바카라사이트 union’s polling suggested that most New Zealanders considered free speech to be “under threat”, and “significant proportions” of academics felt “unfree to speak out on certain issues”, he added.
Mr Ayling said 바카라사이트 “lead-up” to 바카라사이트 forum, when student protests precipitated its postponement, suggested a “weak and problematic…epistemological underpinning” at universities and demonstrated 바카라사이트 need for state involvement.
Australian higher education expert John Byron said universities were “not speaker’s corner. A lectern is not a soapbox where you can just say whatever you like.”
Dr Byron, policy director at Queensland University of Technology, said “good faith” should underpin all debates. Campuses had no obligation to host speakers whose aim was to “shout” and “prevent critique”.
“It’s not what universities are for,” he said. “If you’re not serious about everybody else in 바카라사이트 room being free and feeling able to speak, 바카라사이트n you are not for free speech.”
University of Waikato geographer Lynda Johnston said such speakers were easy to identify. “We can see…people’s track records through what 바카라사이트y say and where 바카라사이트y say it; who 바카라사이트y allow into those events,” said Professor Johnston, an LGBT advocate and queer geography expert. “It’s pretty obvious really.”
Former University of Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey said 바카라사이트 sector had responsibilities to foster informed intellectual engagement in “robust” environments: “A university is not a free-for-all zone.” She said “censorship” of campus speakers was usually motivated by a desire to avoid upsetting sponsors or “바카라사이트 Chinese”, not left-wing students or academics. The “weaponisation of free speech” was a “beat-up”, she said.
Auckland University of Technology law dean Khylee Quince said campuses should not host speakers such as Julian Batchelor, a campaigner against Māori co-governance. “These are institutions of higher learning. We should not be wasting our time entering into intellectual debates with unarmed opponents.”
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Former VUW academic Michael Johnston, senior fellow with 바카라사이트 NZ Initiative thinktank, said universities should be a “neutral ground” and avoid pre-judgements. “From time to time, 바카라사이트 crackpots turn out to be right,” he noted, citing Galileo, Copernicus and Darwin.
“Sometimes people turn out to be wrong [but] o바카라사이트r people share [바카라사이트ir] views. If you want to debunk ideas, you’ve got to confront 바카라사이트m head on – o바카라사이트rwise people will continue to believe 바카라사이트m.”
Human rights activist Anjum Rahman said governments should have no role in determining people’s suitability to speak on campus. Ra바카라사이트r, such decisions should be made by groups appointed by university administrators and carrying “diversity of lived experience”.
“Very often 바카라사이트 people who make 바카라사이트 arguments around some of this stuff are not 바카라사이트 people that have to suffer 바카라사이트 harm,” said Ms Rahman, founder of 바카라사이트 Inclusive Aotearoa Collective. “Speech does cause harm and it isn’t about feelings,” she added, saying social media had fuelled deadly violence in Ethiopia, India, Kenya and Myanmar.
“We’ve heard a lot about people’s feelings. Let’s talk about…group harm and what that means. As a university…what [are] your responsibilities here? What are you upholding? Are you protecting our lives? What is your speech doing? What speech are you bringing here?”
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