Summarised by Centrist
The cancellation of a scheduled April 29 panel discussion at VUW because “Some speakers would’ve made students uncomfortable” has Dr Grant Duncan asking whether NZ’s universities are failing to perform their duties as institutions of higher learning and dialogue.
The discussion had been planned at which a panel of free speech law experts were to speak. However, outrage fostered by the university’s student magazine Salient and the Students’ Association president Marcail Parkinson, who describes herself on X (Twitter) as a ‘crybaby’, forced its cancellation.
“Some speakers would’ve made students uncomfortable, and have a history of hate speech,” she said.
Parkinson was referring to Jonathan Ayling – CEO of the Free Speech Union – who has in the past supported the right to free speech of activists on both sides of transgender issues.
Salient sub-editor Henry Broadbent said the Free Speech Union’s support of anti-trans activists and the anti-co-governance campaign meant Ayling’s inclusion on the panel “compromised the safety of marginalised groups on the campus.”
Ayling responded that his organisation stood up for everyone’s right to speak, and he found it ironic a panel discussion on free speech risked being shut down because of “threats of boycotts and protests.”
