On HIV, Tiananmen Square and science

In light of the fact that the Australian government has announced its intention to place a lifetime visa ban on boat people who arrive here, and that in America one of the candidates for the US Presidency is revelling in denouncing the science behind climate change, a speech I gave to ANU graduates earlier this year seems as relevant as ever. It isn't hard to see the dangerous parallels between Donald Trump's America and the Cultural Revolution, so here I offer an edited version of that speech. I first came to ANU in the summer of 83/84 in search of a home for my PhD as a vacation or 'vac scholar'. A year and a bit later I returned, armed with a PhD scholarship and all my worldly possessions, to work at Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatories, Australia's premiere astronomical research institute. I'd like to discuss two important events that occurred during my time here at ANU that had a significant impact on me and have a message for today. The first concerns an epidemic and Australia's reaction to it.