{"id":517880,"date":"2026-03-04T10:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/517880\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:05:07","slug":"adelaide-university-cancels-literary-festival-event-with-un-gaza-investigator-francesca-albanese-australian-universities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/517880\/","title":{"rendered":"Adelaide University cancels literary festival event with UN Gaza investigator Francesca Albanese | Australian universities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another free speech row at a literary festival has erupted, with Adelaide<\/a> University abruptly cancelling a high-profile event featuring UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese.<\/p>\n

The move has prompted the festival\u2019s organisers<\/a> and speakers to accuse the 152 year-old institution of \u201ccrumbling in fear\u201d.<\/p>\n

The event is part of Constellations: Not Writers\u2019 Week, the popup literary festival that emerged after the cancelled Adelaide Writers Week.<\/p>\n

It was scheduled to take place at the university\u2019s Elder Hall on Thursday night. But organisers said the university told them on Monday that certain requirements had not been adhered to and cancelled the booking.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

A new venue to accommodate 650 in-person ticket holders has been secured at Norwood Concert Hall.<\/p>\n

Albanese, a human rights lawyer, will appear via video link \u2013 alongside academics Prof Henry Reynolds and Dr Lana Tatour \u2013 to discuss settler colonialism.<\/p>\n

Louise Adler, the former director of Adelaide Writers\u2019 Week<\/a> who headlined another of the festival\u2019s events on Sunday, lashed out at the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome once again to Moscow on the Torrens,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities, the arts, and the media were once respected as sites where controversial ideas could be tested. That is no longer a given. We are witnessing relentless campaigning by sectional groups and their influence over politicians \u2026 the conversations possible in the public square are being seriously impoverished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organisers of the event \u2013 the Association for the Promotion of International Law (APIL) \u2013 said the university justified the cancellation by claiming the booking \u201cdid not proceed in accordance with due process\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Adelaide University said it was unaware of the \u201cexternal event\u201d until last Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing further exploration of the matter, the university could not accept the venue booking, as it did not go through the required review and approval process in accordance with the required policy and procedure,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, this left the university with no other choice other than to advise the organisers that it could not provide the necessary support, ensure the safety, respect and comfort of those attending or deliver the quality in keeping with the university\u2019s standards when it comes to public events of this size and scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

APIL disputed those claims, saying they first contacted the university on 3 February, and worked with Elder Hall management for weeks before submitting a formal booking on 20 February.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt no stage, until early this week, were any issues of due process raised,\u201d an APIL spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The venue cancellation follows a report in The Australian that suggested that a university providing a platform for Albanese \u2013 who has been vocal in calling for an end to what she describes as the \u201cgenocide\u201d that Israel<\/a> is waging against Palestinians in Gaza \u2013 could be in defiance of US sanctions.<\/p>\n

In July, the Trump administration placed Albanese\u2019s name on the US Treasury\u2019s sanctions list<\/a>, with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, accusing her<\/a> of \u201clawfare\u201d and \u201cpolitical and economic warfare\u201d against US and Israeli interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West,\u201d Rubio\u2019s 9 July statement <\/a>said, announcing the sanctions against Albanese.<\/p>\n

The APIL has accused Adelaide University of bowing to the media pressure.<\/p>\n

An UN independent commission member, Chris Sidoti, who will be the facilitator of the panel discussion, said the sanctions argument was an attempt to \u201cintimidate\u201d, noting that Albanese speaks at universities worldwide without issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Adelaide University to crumble in fear of possible criticism by imposing a regime of censorship in Australia is reprehensible,\u201d Sidoti said. \u201cA university incapable of upholding free speech no longer merits to be called a university.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement from Adelaide University said it \u201cprides itself on being a place where event attendees are welcomed and where the exchange of ideas can happen freely\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another free speech row at a literary festival has erupted, with Adelaide University abruptly cancelling a high-profile event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-517880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}