Staffing matters

Question

Senator KOVACIC: I now have some questions in relation to one of your lecturers. I would like to table documents 20 and 21. This is a report in the Australian on 23 May this year regarding Andrew Hammond, a senior lecturer in Middle Eastern politics, and a nine-page document setting out some of these posts he has made.... ... Prof. Leach: He is still on staff at the Australian National University. I do not know if he is currently teaching. Senator KOVACIC: He's on staff, which means he's being paid. We know he's still being paid. The Australian taxpayer is paying his salary. We don't know if they're getting any value for money for that, because we don't know if he's teaching students. For how long will he continue to be paid whilst this investigation carries on? Prof. Brown: We'll take that on notice. ... Senator KOVACIC: The main concern here is that Dr Hammond's comments are made in areas directly relevant to his field of teaching. It's not a comment about sport or something like that. This is the very reason he's employed at the ANU and paid by the Australian taxpayer. Has the ANU conducted an audit of the material that has been taught in his classes and whether it's consistent with the values of the ANU? Prof. Brown: I don't know the answer to that. I will take that on notice and get back very quickly. Senator KOVACIC: Can we find out if he has actually taught in his classes that the October 7 terrorist attacks are a 'Zionist Dreamtime', that Israel should be wiped off the map and that those rapes were a hoax? I think that's something really important for us to understand. Prof. Brown: I think so too. We will take that on notice.

Answer

Please see the attached PDF.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• ASQ26-0215.pdf (opens in a new tab)