Answers to a couple of concerns; and further action

Regarding this petition, a couple of people have raised concerns that - 1) government intervention would feed the conspiracy narratives propagated by the antivaxxers. 2) the petition might encourage government meddling in academia and compromise academic freedom. These concerns are really reasonable and I did consider them before starting the petition; but here's why I think we needn't worry and why I'd urge you to sign and/or share: . Australian universities need to know that they cannot expect government funding for 'research' that is actually a threat to public health and safety. . Hard core anti-vaxxers already think Government is part of the conspiracy. Nothing the Government does will change their minds. . Government action may influence some who are on the fence. . This is not a free speech issue - it's a public health issue. . Academic freedom is actually threatened by legitimising pseudoscience. . Research funding is limited. When pseudoscience is funded, that means useful research may have been denied funding. . Allowing pseudoscience into the same arena as science and conferring similar academic status on it undermines the trust that we can have in our academic institutions. Also, please do share this petition across social media. I'll be getting in touch with the relevant ministers and bureaucrats tomorrow and the more signatures we have, the stronger our case will be.