UNSW gender-activism HR masquerade

The thought police on university campuses have developed a new tool to ensure their students think correctly.

Clubs at the University of New South Wales risk disaffiliation if their executives fail to complete a ‘gender misconduct’ course.

Among other things, the course requires students to rate the level of offensiveness of Tony Abbott’s comments that led to Julia Gillard’s famous misogyny speech.

But this is just the tip of the rainbow spear.

Students are asked whether the following statement is true or false: “Your gender is assigned based on your ­biology and your sex is assumed from your gender.” The correct answer being false.

However, if you did not answer correctly — or like me, did not understand the question — never fear.

As a UNSW spokeswoman said: “If students answer incorrectly, they are given opportunities to amend their answer and should the answer continue to be incorrect, they are given the correct answer.” In other words, there is only one acceptable view regarding sex and gender at UNSW.

Ridiculous as it is, this story is another warning signal about the free speech crisis in Australian universities, which prompted the federal government to commission an inquiry led by Former High Court chief justice Robert French.

Some higher education officials have rejected the inquiry. University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence called the inquiry a “circus” and “uni bashing.”

But the UNSW case of gender activism masquerading as HR training points to the wider sources of free speech problems on campus.

As Heather MacDonald explains in her book, university HR departments, like academics, are responsible for pushing political correctness and identity politics.

Compelling students to subscribe to ‘approved views’ on gender is a betrayal of universities core function — which is to promote the maximum freedom of thought and expression.

This is an edited version of an oped that ran on Spectator’s Flat White section.