As stated on my user page, I'm not much of a one for writing new articles, but I like to hunt down and correct errors. And to update articles where new facts come to light.
Over recent days Cabinet documents relating to the 1974 Whitlam government in Australia have been released under the 30-year rule, and as much of the material is relevant to and sheds new light on Gough Whitlam's actions at the time, I turned to the Gough Whitlam article.
Amongst other things, I noted that the article itself was heavily biased towards a partisan point of view. One of the many areas that needed correcting was the mention of the Patrick Field affair, where the Labor Party's nominee for a casual Seante vacancy caused by a death in office was rejected by the Country Party Queensland State Premier in favour of a Labor member who was strongly critical of Whitlam, an event which had far-reaching consequences in Australian political history.
As I have numerous relevant texts ready to hand, I checked a few facts and rewrote the paragraph, removing obviously partisan statements for which I could find no source, and adding factual material. I made a note on the discussion page explaining my actions and citing my main source.
Soon afterwards, user AdamCarr reverted my edit to the previous partisan version. He responded on the discussion page with a list of points which I rebutted, citing exact sources and noting that many of his claims were incorrect. He admitted that he could not currently check his statements. I asked that he refrain from reverting my edits until he could either provide sources or give others a chance to comment.
Shortly after this, PMelvilleAustin again reverted my changes and protected the article, stating on the discussion page that AdamCarr and I should come to an agreement. As AdamCarr himself points out he is on holiday overseas and unable to cite his sources. Other editors are presumably available to discuss and edit the article until a consensus is reached, but as the article is now protected, they are unable to participate in the normal Wiki fashion.
PMelvilleAustin seems to be using his admin powers to prevent edits to an article in which he is personally involved, and which should be available for modification in the light of the recent release of pertinent cabinet documents.