- Nuclear energy scientist scheduled to give a presentation
- Claims he was ‘canceled’ after critical tweet
- Simon Holmes, Australian court and engineers reject claim
A nuclear scientist who claims he was sacked from presenting to hundreds of guests after a single critical tweet from renewable energy advocate and investor Simon Holmes to Court highlights the tense debate around Australia’s energy future.
Rob Parker, who has a master’s degree in nuclear science and civil engineering, has also been a member of Engineers Australia for 30 years. He was due to present “How to avoid an energy mistake in Australia” to more than 400 guests at an Engineers Australia webinar last Wednesday.
“The talk had been planned and approved months before,” Parker told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Emails from head office to Newcastle office where the talk would be held. All the approvals, everything was done.”
But 24 hours before his speech, Teal’s number one financial backer, Mr Holmes a Court, posted on X: ‘Really @EngAustralia? Are you organizing an anti-renewable energy event for @NukeForClimate? I would have thought your body was dedicated to improving understanding (sic), not muddying the waters!’
Nuclear energy expert Rob Parker (left) and renewable energy advocate and investor Simon Holmes in court (right)
Just minutes after the tweet was posted, Engineers Australia responded on X: ‘Thank you Simon. This event has been cancelled. “This does not meet our guidelines and we are investigating how it was programmed.”
Engineers Australia quickly deleted that tweet and an email was sent to guests stating that “this event has been canceled due to the speaker being unwell.”
Parker told Daily Mail Australia it was completely false that he was ill and never suggested to Engineers Australia that this was the case. He only found out that he had been banned from the event to which he had been invited to speak through social media.
‘They canceled it on X before they even bothered to contact me. Everything was ready to go. This was a knee-jerk reaction to Simon Holmes, a court that liquidated them in X.’
The Holmes court rejected Mr Parker’s claim saying: “The event was canceled before my tweet.” Reports on this topic are false.”
Daily Mail Australia understands that the since-deleted Engineers Australia tweet was supposed to be sent to Mr Holmes at Court as a direct message, rather than made available to the public.
Parker says the misleading and false excuse given by Engineers Australia to ban him – claiming he was ill – is a breach of its own code of ethics which requires integrity among members.
“They don’t even meet their own standards,” he said.
“I’m an engineer but I wanted to cry.”
Rob Parker, who has a master’s degree in nuclear science and civil engineering, has also been a member of Engineers Australia for 30 years.
Parker accused the association of participating in a “cancel culture” and pandering to “piqued interests.”
“What they’re doing is sending a message to all young engineers that it’s okay to dissemble, it’s okay to lie and it’s okay to manipulate,” Mr. Parker said.
But Engineers Australia told Daily Mail Australia the event was canceled before Mr Holmes’ tweet to Court: “In reviewing the final speaker notes, which were received on Tuesday morning, the events team shared the presentation with members of the management team who made the decision on Tuesday afternoon to cancel the event, prior to our response on Twitter (to Mr Holmes’ Tribunal).’
An Engineers Australia spokeswoman said the email distributed to registered attendees claiming the event was canceled because Mr Parker was “unwell” was a “human error on our part”.
‘The wrong event cancellation message was sent. We hold more than 800 events throughout the year and, unfortunately, procedural errors were made in this case.’
Engineering Australia said that while the organization “encourages debate”, including on nuclear energy, “we must maintain our non-partisan stance”.
However, at the time of the Voice referendum, Engineers Australia happily advocated for constitutional change even though the referendum did not have bipartisan support. Opposition leader Peter Dutton opposed constitutionally enshrining the Voice proposed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
An Engineers Australia spokeswoman rejected a suggestion by the Voice that it contradicted the claim that “we must maintain our non-partisan stance”.
‘Australian engineers supported a First Nations Voice in Parliament to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a fair say in decisions that affect them, aligning with our values… we don’t drive individual votes, but We try to provide balanced information and encourage respectful debate. .’
The association’s support of the Voice continues and is still prominently displayed on its website.