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Diversity is a strength unless you disagree.

If you don’t line up, fall in, salute and march in unison, you’re forced into struggle sessions, bombarded with complaints and cast out like a pariah.

Thanks to examples like Dr Peter Ridd, Judith Curry, Dr Jereth Kok, Sall Grover and Israel Folau, we all know what’s expected if you want to succeed in any given Australian profession: total conformity with the left-wing hegemony.

Tolerance for dissenting opinions is not applied equally. Call out the groupthink, and you face cancel culture’s equivalent of blasphemy trials.

This hypocrisy is what will be drawn out in a new legal challenge launched by Dr Joanna Howe over Adelaide University’s scrutiny of her broader socio-political advocacy.

Howe to Go to Federal Court

The Oxford-educated law professor is taking her employer to the Federal Court after an alleged 11-month in-house investigation into the things she says publicly.

Supporters argue that putting Howe under the microscope isn’t about her professionalism on campus or her performance in the workplace.

This is about muzzling Howe’s freedom of speech and hurting the credibility behind her very public pro-life worldview.

To quote Queensland Liberal Senator Paul Scarr in 2024, “Professor Howe also conducts research with respect to laws relating to termination of pregnancy, and this is where she has been subjected to allegations, complaints and harassment from those on the other side of the debate.”

Protesting the tactics used against Howe in the Federal Senate, he added, “This is what we continually see, especially from the radical Left. If you do not share the version of the world that the radical Left has, then it is open season on you, and everyone from the radical Left will do everything they can to delegitimise you, attack you, and attack your freedom of speech, freedom of association and academic freedom. That’s what we’ve seen in the case of Professor Howe.”

Scarr then noted at least five investigations over two years had cleared Joanna Howe of any misconduct. Despite this, the senator explained that the university decided to enable Howe’s haters by proceeding with ‘anti-bias, corrective action.’

“Not only that,” he said, “but the professor then had to fight three times to try and get the university to lift this requirement that she undergo anti-bias training. The university refused three times without giving any reasons, and the professor had to go to the Fair Work Commission, and it was only then the university relented.”

When reporting on Howe’s victory, The Daily Declaration’s Deputy Editor, Samuel Hartwich, confirmed that the University’s requirement for Howe’s re-education was dropped after Fair Work’s conciliatory intervention.

As I wrote at the time, Howe is a survivor of the coordinated weaponisation of reporting systems, such as ‘mass reporting.’ That tactic is designed to intimidate, punish, if not shut out, those targeted by it.

Two years on, Howe’s haters are beating the same dead horse.

The Rhodes scholar said in a statement online, “It started with a yellow envelope from the Dean of Law and an investigation into my pro-life advocacy. I was told not to speak about it publicly.

“Then came another investigation into my comments on gender ideology. Then one on Islam. Then another. And another. And another.”

‘It’s Not about Me’: Joanna Howe

Howe revealed that there are a total of 200 allegations and sub-allegations relating to what she’s said about controversial topics. Not one, she said, has anything to do with her words or conduct in the classroom.

“My crime? Disagreeing with the left-wing orthodoxy of the academy. I’ve worked at this university for 14 years. I worked my way up from Lecturer to Professor of Law. I’ve advised successive federal governments on migration. I love academia.

“But I’ve been made to sit through a psychiatric examination, buried in legal letters and shunned in the corridors of my own law school.”

Despite the Fair Work win, Howe said, “The investigations didn’t stop. They multiplied.

“Enough is enough. Universities should not be a monoculture. Academic freedom means nothing if it doesn’t protect views the activists don’t like.

“This isn’t just about me. It’s about every conservative student, every Christian and every junior academic who has learned to keep their head down. And it’s about every Australian who has been told to keep quiet at work or face the consequences.”

Fed up, the law professor is now suing Adelaide University.

Howe said on her Dr Jo Show podcast that she’s arguing for academic freedom against the Woke ideology that’s captured the University’s code of conduct.

Outlining the potential costs, including losing her job, the mother of five added, “I’m doing this because I think it’s important to fight.”

Adelaide University is yet to respond. The University did respond to the ‘consent’ storm stirred up by legacy media against the Howes last month.

Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Nicola Phillips’ statement stuck to a reassertion of Adelaide U policy against “gendered violence.” Phillips did not comment specifically on the controversy.

To find out more about how you can support James and Joanna’s fight for academic freedom, visit their two separate GiveSendGo campaigns here and here.

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Images via screenshot of YouTube and Adelaide University.