Aussie nuclear power expert ‘cancelled’ after tweet

• Nuclear power scientist scheduled to give presentation
• Claims he was ‘cancelled’ after critical tweet
• Simon Holmes a Court & Engineers Australia reject claim 

A nuclear scientist who claims he was axed from presenting to hundreds of guests after a single, critical tweet from renewables advocate and investor Simon Holmes a Court highlights the fraught debate around Australia’s energy future. 

Rob Parker, who holds masters degrees 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 blunder Down Under’ to more than 400 guests at an Engineers Australia webinar last Wednesday.

‘The talk had been planned and signed off on months before,’ Mr Parker told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘Emails from head office all the way to the Newcastle office  – where the talk was to be hosted. All the approvals, everything was done.’ 

But 24 hours before he was due to speak, the Teal’s number one financial backer Mr Holmes a Court posted on X: ‘Seriously @EngAustralia? You’re hosting an anti-renewables event for @NukeForClimate? i would have thought your body was dedicated to improving understand [sic], not muddying the waters!’ 

 Just minutes after the tweet went live Engineers Australia responded on X: ‘Thanks Simon. This event has been pulled. This does not meet our guidelines and we are investigating how it was scheduled.’ 

That tweet was quickly deleted by Engineers Australia after Mr Homes a Court deleted his original tweet upon learning that the event was cancelled. Engineering Australia then sent an email to the guests registered for the event stating ‘this event was cancelled due to the speaker being unwell’. 

Mr Parker told Daily Mail Australia it was entirely untrue that he was sick and he never suggested to Engineers Australia that he was. He only found out he was banned from the event he’d been invited to speak at via social media. 

‘They cancelled it on X before even bothering to contact me. I was all ready to go. This was a knee jerk reaction to Simon Holmes a Court winding them up on X.’

Mr Holmes a Court rejected Mr Parker’s claim saying: ‘The event was cancelled before my tweet. The reporting on this issue is false.’

Mr Parker says the misleading and false excuse given by Engineers Australia for banning him – claiming that he was sick – is a breach of their own code of ethics which calls for integrity amongst members. 

‘They don’t even live up to their own standards’, he said. 

‘I’m an engineer but I wanted to cry.’ 

Mr Parker accused the association of engaging in ‘cancel culture’ and pandering to ‘woke interests’. 

‘What they are doing is sending out a message to all young engineers that it is ok to dissemble, it’s ok to lie, it’s ok to manipulate’, Mr Parker said.

But Engineers Australia told Daily Mail Australia that the event was cancelled prior to Mr Holmes a Court’s tweet: ‘On review of 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, before our tweet response [to Mr Holmes a Court].’

A spokeswoman for Engineers Australia said that the email distributed to registered attendees claiming the event was cancelled because Mr Parker was ‘unwell’ was ‘human error on our part’. 

‘The incorrect event cancellation message was sent. We hold more than 800 events across the year and unfortunately in this instance – procedural errors were made.’  

Engineering Australia said that while the organisation ‘encourages discussions’ including about nuclear power, ‘we must maintain our non-partisan stance’. 

However, at the time of the Voice referendum, Engineers Australia happily advocated for the constitutional change even though the referendum didn’t have bipartisan support. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton opposed constitutionally enshrining the Voice proposed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 

A spokeswoman for Engineers Australia rejected the suggestion advocacy for the Voice contradicted the claim ‘we must maintain our non-partisan stance’.

‘Engineers Australia supported a First Nations Voice to Parliament to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a fair say in decisions affecting them, aligning with our values… we did not direct individual votes but aimed to provide balanced information and foster respectful discussion.’ 

The association’s support for the Voice is ongoing and still prominently displayed on its website.