Kevin Rudd: Our Universities are in... Crisis. Unless We Fix the System Long-Term, We are on a Very Insecure Footing for the Future." (March 4, 2008)

Pointing squarely at the former government of John Howard, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in answer to a question at a Queensland University of Technology business leaders forum, said: "Our universities are in an unfolding state of crisis. Unless we fix the system long-term we are on a very insecure footing for the future."

It is now Mr Rudd's stated conviction that to ensure a productive future the resources of the university sector must be increased.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Julia Gillard is reported by Michelle Grattan of The Age as saying  the universities can "look forward to a productive conversation with the Government about overcoming the financial burden" they have been under.

Ms Grattan says the Education Minister told The Age last night there were three big issues:

• Universities were bound up in red tape with micro-management by the Federal Government on questions such as allocation of places: "They want that burden off their backs," she said.

• Universities wanted to reach a shared understanding with the Government about a vision for the future and their ability to have "real diversity within the system". Ms Gillard said the Government was working through that with them.

• The Government was also discussing with the universities the financial legacy of the Howard years.

Ms Gillard also said that John Howard's government had "left a legacy of funding constraints, and capital and maintenance backlogs. [The universities] understand that the problem can't be fixed overnight. We understand it's a real burden the sector is bearing. They can look forward to a productive conversation with the Government about overcoming the burden."

It now remains to be seen if Universities Australia, and its various "sub-groupings: the Group of Eight, the Australian Technology Network, the Innovative Research Universities Australia, and the New Generation Universities are able to overcome infighting in order to find common ground and put forward a cohesive program to rebuild the sector.