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<TITLE>Fw: URGENT: Stop the sacking of Robert Austin</TITLE>
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<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 11:21:28 +1000</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">From: "Lisa Farrance" <</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://mymail01.mail.lycos.com/scripts/mail/compose.mail?compose=1&.ob=20851ffeea20f701a23f74015284a57fdfa1b0b8&composeto=october%40bigpond.net.au"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">october@bigpond.net.au</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Subject: URGENT: Stop the sacking of Robert Austin</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Can you please pass this on to friends, comrades and colleagues. We </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">urgently need messages of support.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">The Federal Government in Australia has lately intensified its attack </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">on public universities, with the full backing of commercial radio </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">"shock-jocks" and their print-media equivalents. Not content with a </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">complicit media, Nelson and Howard now want compliant, uncritical </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">universities. And RMIT University is showing the way, with its latest </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">political attack against an academic, Dr Robert Austin, a long-time </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">union member. Currently threatened with the sack, Dr Austin's case </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">highlights the real threat posed by the Howard-Nelson agenda.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">After a dispute within Robert's department over the re-scheduling of </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">classes so that students could attend a National Day of Action </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">against Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU), local management proceeded </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">to recommend Robert's termination. The Vice Chancellor has this week </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">signed off on this recommendation, to take effect in 6 months. The </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has submitted a formal </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">appeal, but we urgently need messages of support to help with this </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">appeal.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">All messages should be sent to the Vice Chancellor</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://mymail01.mail.lycos.com/scripts/mail/compose.mail?compose=1&.ob=20851ffeea20f701a23f74015284a57fdfa1b0b8&composeto=vc%40rmit.edu.au"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">vc@rmit.edu.au</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">with a copy to the campaign coordinators</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://mymail01.mail.lycos.com/scripts/mail/compose.mail?compose=1&.ob=20851ffeea20f701a23f74015284a57fdfa1b0b8&composeto=liz.thompson%40rmit.edu.au"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">liz.thompson@rmit.edu.au</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> and </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://mymail01.mail.lycos.com/scripts/mail/compose.mail?compose=1&.ob=20851ffeea20f701a23f74015284a57fdfa1b0b8&composeto=l.farrance%40pgrad.unimelb.edu.au"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">l.farrance@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">A full list of articles, campaign updates and an area for public </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">messages of support can be found on the campaign website: </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.defendrobert.blogspot.com/"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">http://www.defendrobert.blogspot.com/</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">In solidarity</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Lisa Farrance</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">MA student in Media and Communications</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Until recently a Delegate to NTEU National Council and NTEU Branch </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Committee Member</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">__________</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Campaign to Defend Robert Austin:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://defendrobert.blogspot.com"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">http://defendrobert.blogspot.com</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Please visit regularly for updates and to post messages of support</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">We act in solidarity with other academics across the globe facing </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">similar silencing. We support the campaign to defend David Graeber </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">(Yale University).</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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