Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow has urged Australian universities to consider a code of conduct to protect free speech on campus “even when those ideas may be confronting to some people”.
In March 2018 protesters attempted to shut down the LifeChoice Sydney stall at the University of Sydney’s O-week. One protester even stated that “ultimately a stall like this has no place in a university. This is supposed to be a place of, like, higher learning. Umm, they suck.”
Just two months later protesters at the same university claimed “this is the end of LifeChoice and we say that you people are not welcome on campus” and pro-life “ideas are not welcome at Sydney Uni”.
Director of LifeChoice Australia Rebecca Gosper said, “Of all places, University should be the place for young people to think (or at least learn to think) critically. If we are never even given an opportunity to hear views which differ from our own, how can we form authentic views on the wider world?”
“It is critical that free speech is upheld on campus and that groups like LifeChoice are able to continue spreading their pro-life message with truth and compassion.”
