National curriculum review tainted following Professor Barry Spurr's racist, sexist emails, Labor says

Updated

Labor says the Government's national curriculum review is "tainted" after one of its contributing professors sent racist and sexually abusive emails.

University of Sydney Professor Barry Spurr, consultant to the Federal Government's national English curriculum review, referred to Prime Minister Tony Abbott as an "Abo-lover" and Nelson Mandela as a "darky".

He also described Aboriginal people as "human rubbish tips" and reminisced about the 1950s, when there weren't so many "bogans", "fatsoes", "Mussies" and "Chinky-poos" around.

In his review, Professor Spurr advised the Government to focus less on teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literature and place greater emphasis on western Judeo-Christian culture.

Asked this morning about the emails, Mr Abbott said he had not had a chance to read the media reports.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne released a statement saying the emails were a matter for Professor Spurr.

However, he said he utterly rejected the denigration of any minority, calling it "repugnant".

He said the decision to appoint Professor Spurr a special consultant for the review of the national English curriculum was not made by the Government.

The Government appointed Professor Ken Wiltshire and Dr Kevin Donnelly to helm its review of the national curriculum in January.

Professor Spurr was one of the specialist advisers brought onboard to advise the review.

Opposition spokeswoman on multiculturalism Michelle Rowland said it was not enough for Mr Pyne to distance himself from the comments.

"The buck must surely stop with someone, and it must stop with the minister," she said.

"So whilst I welcome the minister coming out and disowning these comments, I think that he should prepare himself for some probably quite valid questions about whether this review has been tainted."

Chris Graham, editor of New Matilda, which broke the story, described the emails as extreme hate-speech.

"He doesn't just object to Aboriginal people who he calls Abos and human garbage, he makes references to 'Mussies'; 'Chinky-poos' is a word that he uses frequently; he's very dismissive of women," Mr Graham told the ABC.

The emails were written over the past two years and sent to senior academics and officials within the university.

One said "Abo-lover" Mr Abbott would have to be surgically separated from his "Siamese Twin", Australian of the Year Adam Goodes.

He also said Sydney University Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson was an "appalling minx", while other women were "whores".

A group of up to 100 students protested outside Professor Spurr's office today, demanding his sacking.

Professor says emails part of a game

Professor Spurr, a specialist in poetry and poetics who has been at the university for 38 years, defended the emails and told New Matilda they were mainly to one recipient and were part of a "whimsical" game to outdo one another in extreme statements.

He said they were in no way a reflection of his views.

The University of Sydney said it was "deeply disturbed" by the emails and was investigating the matter.

Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said someone with such outdated ideas should never have been chosen to review the national English curriculum.

"The review is ostensibly about restoring balance to an imbalanced curriculum," he said.

"These views are hardly the views that one would describe as balanced."

Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane was worried the emails might also reflect the way the academic behaves.

"It does raise questions about whether this will translate into unfair treatment of others," Mr Soutphommasane said.

"People may well think that racism is just a whimsical game of words, but ultimately it’s something that wounds others."

Gabrielle Pei Tiatia, Ethnic Affairs Officer with the University of Sydney's Students Representative Council, called on the university's Vice-Chancellor to sack Professor Spurr immediately.

Undergraduate Student Fellow of the University Senate, Patrick Massarani, doubted there was any reasonable explanation for the comments.

"I'm exceptionally disappointed in having seen the comments that have been made," he said.

"As a student, I do wonder how somebody who could make these comments could be placed in any sort of pastoral care role within the university."

Topics: university-and-further-education, sydney-2000

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