Dr Turni has also co-authored anti-vaccination papers with two other University of Queensland researchers, Dr Peter Parry and Dr Nick Hudson. None of them are medical researchers. Dr Turni specialises in agricultural microbiology, Dr Parry in child psychiatry, and Dr Hudson in agricultural metabolic biochemistry.

I wonder where these were published. Any reputable journal should have rejected them outright since the authors are speaking outside their areas of expertise.

National Fire Ant Program general manager Marni Manning said Dr Turni’s claims were not supported by credible science… Ms Manning said the University of Queensland should consider what impact Dr Turni was having on its reputation as an academic institution.

Also, how is UQ not jumping up and down over this? Universities have staff training that addresses exactly these types of situations (ethics policies usually explicitly mention not publishing outside one’s area of expertise) and they typically highlight how care must be taken to avoid connecting the university with personal views. At bare minimum I’d expect these academics to have had warnings from HR and the legal department as a result of this unprofessional behaviour.