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Melbourne Uni Cancels Surgeon Lecture After Zionist Pressure
University of Melbourne canceled cardiologist Peter Macdonald's lecture after unnamed complaints. No right of reply. Second such incident. AHPRA's IHRA definition raises free speech concerns.
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The University of Melbourne withdrew an invitation to cardiologist Professor Peter Macdonald to deliver the annual Clarebrough Memorial Lecture on June 12. The decision followed complaints from unnamed individuals about a remark Macdonald made at a Palestinian justice forum in 2025. The organisers gave him no opportunity to respond, according to an investigative report by Wendy Bacon on Michael West Media.
Macdonald, a pioneer in heart transplant medicine, was invited in April by the University and St Vincent's Hospital. The lecture is the premier event of the Surgical Forum, a partnership between the two institutions. A promotional brochure remained in circulation after the cancellation. St Vincent's surgeon Dr Elizabeth Paretz will now deliver the lecture.
This is the second time Macdonald has faced cancellation. In 2025, he was placed on forced leave from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney for seven weeks after a complaint from doctors associated with the Australian Zionist Healthcare Alliance (AZHA). An independent investigation dismissed the complaint. The forum organisers were informed of that outcome before their decision, Bacon reported. They refused to reverse the withdrawal.
The remark at issue was a 30-second question at a Palestinian Justice community forum. Macdonald said that before being informed by the Australian government that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible, he considered Mossad could be behind some antisemitic incidents. Mossad itself acknowledges conducting extensive covert operations, including embedding agents in other countries.
University acting head of surgery Professor Justin Yeung and St Vincent's surgeon Matthew Read wrote to Macdonald that the remarks were "widely interpreted as antisemitic" and could distract from the forum. The accusers were not named. The University's Interim Vice Chancellor Glyn Davis did not answer questions about whether senior management was aware of the decision, Bacon wrote.