MP backs Ridd’s expertise

HINCHINBROOK MP Nick Dametto has come out in support of sacked James Cook University professor Peter Ridd after he lost his High Court appeal against his controversial dismissal

Mr Dametto was in the Burdekin with Dr Ridd last month to discuss reef regulations and the proposed Environmental and Other Legislation (Reversal of Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures) Amendment Bill 2021.

Mr Dametto said the High Court’s decision meant Dr Ridd was in breach of his JCU work contract when he publicly raised quality assurance and trust concerns around fellow researchers’ works.

The ruling had nothing to do with Dr Ridd’s expertise on the reef or the validity of his scientific views, he said.

“As a scientist, academic and individual we believe he deserves to be applauded for putting everything on the line to fight for what he, and many others, believe in, which is the fundamental importance of freedom of speech and academic integrity,” Mr Dametto said.

“In the name of standing up for what he thought was morally right and just, Dr Ridd has sacrificed his job and potentially his career and reputation, but he has done this because he believed it was right to at least question the science.

“Few people understand the effects of sediment and nutrient run-off to the GBR better than Dr Ridd, and systemic quality assurance problems are still plaguing the way GBR ‘science’ is being used to affect modelling that drives government policy and public opinion.

“The gravest concern attached to the ruling is that it has the real potential to scare off anyone else who wants to raise their head out of the trenches to question not only the reef science institutions, but also science across the board.”

In an emotional statement, Dr Ridd said his case was “just a small battle in a much bigger war”.

“We lost, in my opinion, because JCU’S work contract, under which I was employed, effectively kills academic freedom of speech – and the contract is effectively the law,” Mr Ridd said.

“So, JCU actions were technically legal. But it was, in my opinion, never right, proper, decent, moral or in line with public expectations of how a university should behave.”

Dr Ridd said he regularly asked himself if he knew the outcome of his comments during an interview in which he criticised the quality assurance of some reef-related research, would he do it again.

“All I can say is that I hope I would do it again – because overall it was worth the battle,” he said.