Minister Tells Unis, "Stop whinging and please don't bother us, thank you." (October 16, 2006)

    One thing about our Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, is certain... an Angela Merkel she ain't.

Dr. Merkel as German Chancellor heading the "Grand Coalition" has not only been able to rally the disparate members of her federal government but she's also got the Länder (German states) on side so that the first instalment (€873 million (A$1.45 billion)) of the funding package to significantly upgrade the German university system is committed.*

In contrast Ms Bishop is reported by Samantha Maiden in today's Australian as questioning "university chiefs'  'constant demands for government handouts', urging institutions to adopt a business model that encourages entrepreneurship and donations."

In an article commissioned for The Australian's Making the Boom Pay conference, she berates the 1973 Whitlam government for taking on responsibility for university funding without seeking a referral of constitutional powers from the states. She writes, "If there is to be no referral of powers, Australian state and territory governments should shoulder a fairer share of the responsibility for their universities, in recognition of the benefits those universities bring to their jurisdictions."

Good thinking for once, really.

Reach agreement with a state as to what amount of taxation the Federal Government receives from that state which the state may be retain to support its higher education sector, and allow the state to set to, just as say the US state of California or Illinois or New York, etc does.

Of course it could be argued that the Commonwealth of Australia also gains long term as well as short and medium term benefits from the universities - or perhaps Ms Bishops perceives that, with the possible exception of ANU, the benefits stop at state and territory borders.

But then she also explains to the recalcitrant university administrators that  a more "business-like" approach from university management could revolutionise funding, Ms Bishop says. "It will see a culture of constant demands for Australian government handouts replaced with a culture of independence and innovation..." Furthermore, "Currently, there is a high reliance on the Australian Government for funding, both directly and through the management of student loans schemes -- accounting for almost 60 percent of total funding."

That's funny, aren't loans expected to be repaid; apparently creative accounting isn't dead so far as DEST is concerned. Most analyses place Federal funding at about 40%.

Ms Bishop was particularly scornful of the university sector crying poor saying:

It is worth noting that universities are in a much stronger financial situation than their plaintive calls for increased Australian government funding would suggest. In 2005, universities held more than $7 billion in cash and investments, which was an 18 per cent increase on the previous year. For example, the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney each hold more than $1 billion in reserves.

The vice-chancellor of Melbourne University, ever the gentleman, told The Australian, "I am sure that she realises that very little of our investment fund is discretionary income. Much of this money is tied to university trust funds, invested to produce income to support the purposes of over 700 individual trusts, and also our ... scholarship program, funding for research... and so on."

And as Michael Gallagher, director of policy and planning at the Australian National University, formerly a senior DEST official points out, the idea that universities are flush with cash ignors the liability side of the ledger, "We are meant to hold something like half a billion dollars to cover our super liabilities ... It would be improper to raid that".

But then why should Ms Bishop let facts stand in the way of a good jab.