An Answer to Make Dr Nelson and Cabinet Colleagues Sneer in Disgust. (January 9, 2006)

    But it really isn't of any consequence; it was uttered by an American academic in answer to a question put to him by the journal Science.

Last month, 49-year-old geneticist David Page was named the fourth director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Science asked: An "artist colony extraordinaire" is how you describe Whitehead. Are you serious?

Page answered: Absolutely. We live by the credo of academic freedom. We hire people, invest in their careers, and let the faculty chart their own paths. We identify the most creative people and let 'em loose.

Well, we certainly wouldn't want anything like that subversive squandering of money by an Australian government -- not while Dr Nelson as John Howard's Minister for Education, Science and Training is riding shotgun on the portfolio.