The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has launched an attack on two Campion College academics—Dr Stephen McInerney (Dean of Studies) and Dr Stephen Chavura (Senior Lecturer in History)—branding them “far-right” for their views expressed at the recent BACPAC 2025 conference.
The attempt to smear them has sparked a wave of support from conservatives who see the controversy as proof that the Australian mainstream media cannot tolerate dissenting voices on culture, heritage, and immigration.
The Herald’s article attempts to frame McInerney and Chavura as “racists,” citing their criticisms of multiculturalism and defence of Anglo-Celtic heritage.
McInerney is shamed for warning about Australia’s “radical transformation,” questioning mass immigration, and praising figures like Enoch Powell. Chavura is attacked for encouraging Anglo-Celtic men to defend their heritage, oppose multiculturalism, and support pro-Australian rallies.
McInerney responded directly on X, praising Campion College for upholding academic freedom and protecting freedom of speech:
“The SMH has published an article attacking me and my colleague, Stephen Chavura. I am pleased to be employed by an institution that supports Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech and formally protects these essential values in its policy framework.”
Chavura issued a longer statement, accusing the Herald of deliberately targeting him and McInerney as an intimidation tactic:
“Simply put, the media sees that since the March for Australia protests and the Charlie Kirk assassination, the political right is becoming more confident and assertive, and they are trying to put the revolt down by making an example of two seemingly easy targets. … This is not a time for conservatives and patriots to retreat in fear. This is the time to rally behind and support one another.”
Chavura insists that nothing he has said constitutes “racism,” unless one adopts the left’s ever-expanding definition of the term to include virtually all conservative perspectives on immigration.
What this controversy reveals is not simply a clash between two academics and a newspaper, but a deeper cultural fault line in Australia. Any positive reference to Anglo-Celtic heritage now sparks media hysteria, while other ethnic groups in Australia are praised for preserving their traditions, forming enclaves, and resisting assimilation.
In practice, “multiculturalism” in Australia has come to mean that every people group is free to maintain and defend its identity—except Anglo-Celtic Australians.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s hit-piece has inadvertently laid bare the true meaning of Australia’s official “diversity” narrative: every culture is worth celebrating—unless it is the heritage of those who built modern Australia. The descendants of the Anglo-Celtic pioneers who established the institutions, laws, and culture of the nation are now told to embrace self-loathing, indifference to their demographic decline, and silence in the face of cultural erosion.
That is why the SMH’s attack will backfire. Rather than silencing dissent, it has only confirmed what many Australians already suspect—that media elites use “multiculturalism” as a weapon, not to celebrate diversity, but to delegitimise and displace the nation’s own heritage.
