Last week, Engineers Australia cancelled the event, “Avoiding an energy blunder downunder,” which was scheduled to take place in Newcastle.

The decision to cancel this event was made after careful consideration and in the interest of maintaining our non-partisan and neutral position as the trusted independent voice for the profession and as the peak body representing 127,000 members. 

There has been some external commentary that our decision was prompted by social media pressure – this is incorrect. Our actions to cancel the event were made for the above reasons and preceded social posts made after this fact.

While Engineers Australia encourages discussions on various energy technologies from a technical perspective, we must remain neutral. 

Engineers Australia’s Board has been particularly concerned about the amount of misinformation and disinformation shared online about this matter and is undertaking  a review of the situation. 

In response to an email saying the speaker was unwell, there were human errors on our part – an incorrect event cancellation message was inadvertently sent. 

We remain committed to sharing a diverse, informed, evidence-based program of events to enhance our profession and support our members, and we are working with the Newcastle Division on a future event.