Following last week’s ruling that Dr Jereth Kok was guilty of “professional misconduct” for expressing his political views online, another professional is facing termination for criticising an ideological narrative.

Eric Descheemaeker, a French law professor at the University of Melbourne, has been forced to fight for his job after an internal email he sent criticising the institute as an “ideological re-education camp” was leaked, offending some staff and students.

In the email to Melbourne law school dean Matthew Harding, Professor Descheemaeker criticised the school for straying from its original purpose towards “ideological” concerns.

“I joined what I thought was a world-class law faculty”, he wrote in his email.

“I wake up in an ideological re-education camp with incredibly parochial concerns, those of the inner-north suburbs of Melbourne (sorry, ‘Naarm’).

“Celebrating the ‘noble savage’ is already the main, if not exclusive, thing Melbourne law school appears to exist for – with just a bit of space to spare for every possible sexual or gendered minority vying for claims to victimhood.

“Their (non-existing) claims to land are now ‘acknowledged’ about every 10 feet in our corridors.”

Copies of the leaked email were posted on notice boards around the university, with some students and faculty members condemning it as “racist”. The university offered counselling to anyone who “may have been offended or upset by its ­contents”.

“There is absolutely no end to where ‘Blak’ activists are meaning to take us – except destruction. They have made us start every meeting with ritual prayers,” Professor Descheemaeker wrote.

He was threatened with termination after the email, prompting him to lodge a discrimination claim against the university under the Fair Work Act.

On Friday, during a hearing before Judge Val Gostencnik in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, the university agreed not to terminate Professor Descheemaeker’s employment or take further adverse actions until his interlocutory application is heard on September 9.

Professor Descheemaeker’s case is one of an increasing number of examples of professionals being silenced for having the wrong opinions.

Dr Jillian Spencer was stood down from her role as a child psychiatrist for questioning transgender ideology and its impacts on children. Dr Jasmine Sussex was forced to face a tribunal for saying that ‘men can’t breastfeed’.

And recently Dr Jereth Kok was found guilty of professional misconduct after being suspended for six years following an anonymous tip-off about his social media activity.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) said Dr Kok’s posts expressed sentiments of violence, encouraged Covid vaccine hesitancy, or were otherwise “denigrating, demeaning, disrespectful and derogatory” to various groups,

In reality, Dr Kok’s posts were an expression of his Christian and conservative political views, often using memes or satirical articles to criticise ideological positions on issues such as transgender medicine or abortion.

The encroachment by government, institutions, and corporations on free speech continues, and the lines between personal freedom and submitting to the party line blur more and more. HRLA stands on the frontline of protecting a person’s right to speak the truth.

^{Image source: Wikipedia. University of Melbourne}