Writers and artists are being cancelled for their political views, even when those views are not expressed in their work, narrowing the space for cultural debate and free expression.

Is this the next step in cancel culture?

The University of Queensland Press has scrapped 5,000 copies of a forthcoming children’s book, Bila: A River Cycle by Wiradjuri poet Jazz Money, illustrated by Matt Chun.

The university’s dean of humanities, Heather Zwicker, cited an article by Chun, titled ‘We don’t mourn fascists’, published after the Bondi massacre last December.

In an email sent to UQP staff on Wednesday, Zwicker said Chun’s statements “do not align with UQ’s policies and values, including in light of its adopted definition of antisemitism”.

There is no suggestion that either the text or illustrations of Bila suggest antisemitism. The claim is that Chun’s statements make him an unacceptable author to be published by UQP.

When Lamestream Media approached the University of Queensland for comment, it repeated this explanation, saying it “regrets the impact this matter has on the author” and professing “enormous respect for Jazz and her work”.

The decision follows a campaign from the Australian newspaper after book retailer Dymocks responded to Chun’s article by removing his books from its shops in January.

The article attacked the Bondi Chanukah celebration as a display of Zionist violence. Chun wrote that: “Whiteness, Jewishness and the backdrop of Bondi Beach were enough to bestow every person killed with default........

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