I think the article made that point to counteract any questions of "who is the source, and how reliable are they on this topic?". Especially because Tim Flanner

I think the article made that point to counteract any questions of "who is the source, and how reliable are they on this topic?". Especially because Tim Flannery has already been the target of many "callouts" on Australian media, eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LzlEkxE-zs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LzlEkxE-zs