You wouldn’t know it from the pages of our daily newspapers, but the rate of growth in rents has been pretty modest … Average rents are barely any higher than they were at the start of COVID.
Such a take, from Associate Professor Ben Phillips in The Conversation, was always going to get a few hackles up regardless of whether you agree or believe its data foundations are sound. It runs contrary to what many people are saying about a crisis in housing in general and rents in particular.
Another detail that might further raise eyebrows is not in the copy. Phillips — an associate professor at the Australian National University — happens to be married to Labor backbencher Alicia Payne.
Under the disclosure statement which accompanies this piece, we’re assured that “Phillips does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment”.
And certainly by no means are we alleging a stone-cold conflict — Payne doesn’t hold a portfolio concerning housing, for example, and, regardless, partners obviously can hold different views. We’re big fans of the Bob Katter model, telling the register of interests, essentially: “The wife doesn’t tell me about her shares, and I respect that.”
Still, it’s a piece in a news service that applies academic rigour which argues that a touchy political issue is not actually all that big a deal, written by the partner of someone in a government tasked with improving that issue. Is that a connection that readers ought to know about?
The Conversation’s editor Misha Ketchell told Crikey it was the publication’s policy to disclose all relevant conflicts of interest, “and we err on the side of encouraging more disclosure rather than less”.
“But when it comes to spouses it’s difficult terrain as it could be construed as insulting or unfair to assume that an interest of someone’s spouse would influence their expert views,” he said. “To put it another way, people have a right to be considered as professional individuals who exercise independent judgment separate from their personal relationships.”
For this reason, he said, the publication doesn’t mandate author disclosure of their spouse’s affiliations and interests, and that includes membership of political parties.
“To my knowledge Ben Phillips has been an esteemed social researcher for at least a decade and is known for his rigour and professionalism,” he said. “I’d say it’d be a long bow to suggest his partner’s political role would influence his work in any way.”
