Keith Windschuttle is to the Australian Far Right as the late William F. Buckley was to America's Conservatives. He made his journal, Quadrant, a platform for world climate change deniers. Windschuttle precipitated a battle called the History Wars when he published The Fabrication of Aboriginal History. He denied the violence of Aboriginal vs. British conflict in Tasmania, attacking the scholarship of other historians. The second volume of The Fabrication... challenged the claims that the governments of Western Australia and the Northern Territory had systematically tried to "breed out the color" of Aborigines by forcibly taking children from their parents. Windschuttle has been hoisted on his own petard. In the weeks following the holidays, it emerged that Quadrant had published an article, "Scare campaigns and science reporting," on biotechnology and genetic engineering, without checking its authenticity. The article was a fabrication by a scientist, Dr. Sharon Gould, who wanted to demonstrate Windschuttle's acceptance of un-scientific science.
Accusations, complaints of trickery, glee followed the revelation of the hoax, almost as much fireworks as New Year's Eve in Sydney Harbor. I'm impressed and inspired by Gould's clever method for uncovering Windschuttle's academic double standards. I can think of quite a few proponents of un-scientific science and un-historic history who merit the same treatment.
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