Members of the scientific community are receiving death threats as debate over Julia Gillard’s carbon tax intensifies.
In the latest incident, Federation of Australian Science and Technological Societies executive director Anna-Maria Arabia received an email today saying she would be “strung-up by the neck” and killed for her promotion of mainstream climate science.
The threat was emailed to her this morning before a “Respect the Science” campaign at Parliament House in Canberra today.
It follows months of abusive phone calls and threats to several of Australia’s top scientists at the Australian National University, forcing it to improve security and shift climate scientists to a more secure work location.
Ms Arabia said she and other members of the science community received more than 1000 emails a day as part of an anti-climate change campaign, but the latest email went “a step too far”.
“It was very unpleasant and this one was just to me as opposed to a whole chain like they normally are,” Ms Arabia said.
“No person whatever they do should have to put up with that. It’s completely unacceptable.”
Ms Arabia said scientists would not be intimidated by such threats and would continue to put their ideas and research in the public domain.
She said she would refer her threat to Federal Police for investigation.
Ms Arabia said misleading claims about climate science were spilling over into attacks on the credibility of scientific research in general.
She said the campaigns were being run by climate deniers.
“It’s unfortunate, because it’s aimed at creating confusion, and it really places a question over the validity of the scientific process,” Ms Arabia said.
More than 200 scientists will converge on Parliament House today to call on politicians to help stop misinformation in the climate debate.
But it’s not certain the scientists will be able to personally deliver their message to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
“Look, I’ve got a pretty busy schedule today,” he told ABC Radio.
