BY JAMES CARTER
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has described the campaign to remove Mark Vaile as Chancellor of the University of Newcastle as 'misleading, ideological and shrill' in a speech to parliament.
Speaking to the House of Representatives on on Tuesday, Mr Fitzgibbon called out progressives for targeting those working in the coal industry.
In an interview, the MP says he remained quiet during the protests to avoid disadvantaging the university but believes its time to call out those rallying against Hunter industries.
"This is a form of modern day McCarthyism, people are being blacklisted because of where they work and in this case the coal mining industry and if we demonize Mark Vaile for his association with the coal mining industry then we demonize all coal workers"
Mr Vaile chairs in the board of Whitehaven Coal but Mr Fitzgibbon presented to the parliament that he also is the chair of a renewables investment fund and has extensive management experience.
Mr Fitzgibbon says Mr Vaile would have not changed the University's direction towards becoming carbon-neutral by 2025.
"I have had an overwhelmingly positive response from people who are sick and tired of demonization of people that work hard in our coal industry everyday, we should be proud of them and they should be proud of what they do" Mr Fitzgibbon said.
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| Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon Image: twitter.com/fitzhunter |
