Today I get to share with you:

- Two new tours we'll be hosting in November and December ✅

- Two free speech fights, and the work we're doing to shift the dial ✅, and

- Two updates of work in schools to create a generation of free speech champions. ✅ 

Telling response from leaked internal AUT Law Faculty survey results shows academic freedom under threat

Last week, an ordeal went down that confirms to me the importance of our work to uphold free speech and academic freedom. 

As The Herald covered over the weekend, AUT staff leaked results to an internal Law Faculty survey. These results were damning, and caused quite the stir. 

You'd think when 35% of your staff say they've experienced bullying or harassment in the past six months, and only 30% say they're comfortable to report inappropriate behaviour, you'd take it seriously.  

But Prof. Paul Myburgh emailed academics in the Law school stating, "If you’re that unhappy, please do us all a favour and leave. We’ll hold the door open for you so that it doesn’t hit your arse on the way out, e hoa."

His reaction is outrageous and simply reinforces the results the survey showed. Discrimination and bullying is only compounded when staff aren't free to speak out on it.

This points to a much bigger issue in our academic institutions. We've got to keep advocating for our universities to be places where staff and students are free to voice their opinions and participate in debate. 

We’ve contacted the Vice-Chancellor of AUT and Minister of Tertiary Education, challenging them to take action and display the leadership that is needed to defend all academics free speech and right to academic freedom. 

Last week, our CEO Jonathan spoke with Duncan Garner about the issue. As he said, this is about so much more than disgruntled staff complaining about their employer. The issue the were complaining about strikes to the heart of their ability as academics to speak openly, challenge the status quo, and say the unspeakable. 

Do Dentists really need to be 'culturally safe'? 

Free speech is the right to say what you want openly. It's also the right to not say things- or be unreasonably required to listen to others say things. 

The Dental Council of New Zealand is consulting on new requirements for dentists to undertake 'cultural safety' training.

Soon, they will be consulting on a process to review "its competencies and several of its standards to better align with contemporary literature and health sector standards on cultural competence, cultural safety and hauora Māori."

They've promised that the specific questions they'll review will be provided before the consultation process, however, that starts in a week, and there's still seems to be no word of the questions they're considering. 

Their consultation period includes a series of events in the main centers. This may be constructive, but we think in the absence allowing for written submissions, the quality and amount of feedback they will receive will be limited. 

We're also concerned that questions they'll consider may force dentists into ideological pigeonholes, unable to speak on views that oppose those held by the Council. But, we won't know unless they release the material. 

We've written to the Dental Council with our concerns and seeking clarification.

As we said in our letter "Notwithstanding, our concern with cultural competence and cultural safety standards arise with the expression of differing views and opinions. Foremost among our concerns are professional requirements that express particular cultural attitudes, including:

1. 1. The impacts of racism, colonisation and power balance on Māori oral health, and;
   2. The need to reflect on the practitioners’ own culture, including their biases, attitudes, assumptions, stereotypes, prejudices and characteristics, and;
   3. The need to understand the inherent power balance that exists in the practitioner-patient relationship 

This is an issue that more and more professionals are having to face. That is why our growing number of membership options are so important. More on that in coming weeks. If you are a dentist, and would like to discuss these changes with us, please do touch base. 

Find an FSU event near you before the end of the year!

I just looked at the calendar to see what's coming up before the end of the year, and we have 15 events between now and Christmas. This includes two tours with international guests, our AGM, and many regional public meetings, too.

A key part of my role is ensuring Kiwis are equipped with the tools needed to uphold and defend our essential cultural value of free speech. Our events are a chance for exactly that.

I am pleased to announce our next two international guests: Prof. Nigel Biggar is joining us in November and Dr. Peter Boghossian is joining us in December. They're two prominent free speech advocates, both of which I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing from. 

Both guests will tour the country with us with Prof. Biggar also giving the keynote address at our AGM in November.

Prof. Biggar is the Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford, a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Pusey House, Oxford, a celebrated author, and Chairman of the Board of the Free Speech Union UK. He has recently been intricately involved in the drafting and progression of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act in the UK to protect free speech and academic freedom at English universities.  

Dr. Boghossian is a celebrated philosopher dedicated to applying philosophical tools across various contexts with his work focusing on enhancing critical thinking and moral reasoning. He serves as a Founding Faculty Fellow at the University of Austin and is the Director of the National Progress Alliance along with contributing to major publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Our "town hall" meetings are also in full swing. This week, I will be in the South Island with Jonathan hosting two public events in Timaru and Dunedin along with meeting with supporters and the mayors. Then next month, we'll be in Dannevirke and Lower Hutt, and I'm looking forward to hosting events in Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Rotorua, too! 

Ensuring the next generation can speak up 

High school students around New Zealand need to know how free speech keeps our democracy alive. Last week, I had the privilege of sitting in on one of our SpeakUp! sessions that Nick Hanne, our Educational Partnerships Manager, ran with teenagers (and a few curious parents!) in Cambridge.

Designed to be highly interactive, questions and discussions flowed throughout the two-hour session.

For our SpeakUp! program, Nick delivers challenging case studies designed to get students thinking critically and independently and lays out the key lessons from history showing why a culture of free thought and expression needs to be discovered by a new generation. These sessions are a deep dive into the essence of what makes free speech a fundamental principle and constructive method by which our society can truly flourish.

(If you know any schools or groups who would be keen to have Nick come along to run a Speak Up! session, please contact [email protected].)

We're also continuing to partner with NZ Schools Debating Council in supporting upcoming high school competitions in Northland (20 October) and nationally (7-8 December).

Without a culture of free speech, real debate is impossible.

So as you can see, we've got plenty on our plate.

Our team is pulling out all the stops whether it's ensuring dentists are free to hold their own opinions, academics are free to speak out at universities or that school students are equipped with the free speech fundamentals to champion this crucial right, we're working hard for our future.

One last thing. You may have seen today the 400 Christian leaders who opposed the Treaty Principles Bill, and called for MPs to do everything in their power to stop it from going to Select Committee. Undoubtedly, this is an issue we'll talk about more in coming months, but Jonathan sat down with Simon O'Connor, former MP and former Catholic Priest, and Nick Hanne, to consider whether this is really what free speech should look like.

Thanks for making that possible- without the amazing donors and members who stand with us, none of this would happen.

Nathan Seiuli Events & Outreach Manager Free Speech Union www.fsu.nz

I'm especially excited for our AGM in Auckland on 9th November! In addition to a keynote from Oxford Professor Nigel Biggar, we will have a series of panels and discussions with prominent speakers like David Seymour, Paul Goldsmith, Tim Wilson, and more.

The Viaduct Events Centre is fairly big, but we plan on selling out, so get in now!