Saturday 27th of April 2024
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Nationals MP Mark Vaile has broken his silence to vigorously defend his right to take on a private sector consultancy while still in Parliament. 

As he took a swipe at Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, the former deputy prime minister said he may quit office before the next election. 

Mr Vaile described last week's highly-criticised trip to the Middle East - which generated a week of bad headlines for the Coalition - as a 'scoping exercise'. 

He was acting as a consultant on behalf of Servcorp, a company which offers office space and business centres in commercial areas. 

'It was a trip for me to look at their business, and in doing so see if I could add any value to their operation in the longer term,' Mr Vaile said. 'It was for me to have a look at what they do, and how they interact with governments in those countries. 

'I took leave to go there. I did not do it at taxpayers' expense. Everyone else in the community is entitled to some personal leave, and that's what I took.' 

I May Quit But Only If The Right Job Comes Along

Self-servcorp...

Who is Vaile serving?

By Andrew Brennan and Jeff Malpas

The media have made much of the fact that Mark Vaile has been 'moonlighting', by working for ServCorp, a company whose activities he used to promote when he was Minister for Trade.

Within the Opposition, Mr Vaile's activities have provided a focus for the ongoing sparring between Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull, with Nelson condemning Mr Vaile's trip, and Turnbull defending it on the grounds that it is not illegal, while also suggesting that it goes against a change in public sentiment on such matters.

once a toon...

 

Significant donors to the University of Newcastle have blacklisted the institution over its decision to appoint coal mining boss Mark Vaile as its new chancellor.

Mr Vaile is chairman of Whitehaven Coal and served as Nationals leader and deputy prime minister from 2005 to 2007.

His appointment to the chancellor role earlier this month caused a member of the university council to resign and sparked a backlash from leading academics and the student body.

 

Today, 16 philanthropists who have collectively donated millions of dollars to University of Newcastle projects cut ties with the organisation.

Signatories of a letter published as a full-page advertisement in the local newspaper included entrepreneur Alan Schwartz, former Australian rugby captain David Pocock and philanthropist Sue McKinnon.

 

“Mr Vaile has played an important role in Australian politics and business, but that role has included questioning the science of climate change and its links to drought,” the letter said.

“As significant donors we write this letter to make clear to the university that we, and many like-minded others, will not support a university who would choose as their leader someone who is determined to build new coal mines when most of the world is determined to reduce fossil fuel use.”

Whitehaven Coal is seeking to expand its Vickery coal mine in the New England region of NSW, a project that is being challenged in the Federal Court on behalf of young people everywhere.

Last year Mr Vaile attacked Australia’s banks, saying they had a moral obligation to fund the nation’s coal industry.

 

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2021/06/18/university-newcastle-donors-mark-vaile/

 

Once a toon character, always a toon character...

 

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SAVE THE KOALAS!

job declined...

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge says cancel culture is to blame for former Nationals leader Mark Vaile’s decision to turn down the role of Newcastle University chancellor following a furore over his links to the coal industry.

Mr Tudge said he respected the former deputy prime minister’s decision to quit as chancellor this week, days before he was due to take up the role, but labelled it very concerning.

 

“At a time when we are trying to promote and enforce free speech and academic freedom on campus, we should not have a very competent person forced out of an important job because of this cancel culture,” Mr Tudge said on Tuesday.

But senior Newcastle University academics said there was widespread unhappiness among staff the appointment of Mr Vaile, who is the chairman of Whitehaven Coal, with the backlash that led to his resignation not limited to activist groups.

 

Distinguished Laureate Professor Nick Talley, a former pro-vice-chancellor and head of the university’s medicine faculty, said Mr Vaile was a “poor” choice for the role by university management.

“Many of my colleagues and friends and other people in the community were really very unhappy with the university’s decision [to appoint Mr Vaile],” said Professor Talley, who is also a specialist at John Hunter Hospital.

“It wasn’t just a small group of so-called activists. Everyone I spoke to in the community – and I’ve got a wide network outside the university – most of them were very deeply concerned.

“The majority [of people] here in Newcastle recognise coal is the past and it will have to change.”

He said the backlash would have intensified had Mr Vaile not resigned, with a significant group of academics who worked in the hospital system among those who were marshalling to protest his appointment.

 

READ MORE:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/mark-vaile-says-unjustified-campaign-made-him-abandon-newcastle-uni-chancellor-role-20210622-p5832k.html

 

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom of shit-knowledge — and this is why churches should be in churches NOT IN POLITICS. Universities are beacons of knowledge and we know that burning COAL is a major culprit in exacerbating global warming. The opposite to this are shit opinions and nothing to do with cancel culture.

 

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