President of Universities UK: None of the Political Parties are Talking About Their Plans for Higher Education. (May 4, 2010)

Professor Steve Smith is president of Universities UK and vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter and two days before Britain's general election he is less than sanguine than what's in store for the United Kingdom's higher education sector.

Australia's federal election is probably still over half-a-year away but the silent judgement of our political leaders seems not dissimilar to those in the UK which Professor Smith describes in the Guardian: "To many in the higher education sector it seems that there is a convenient pact of silence between the three major parties on some of the most important issues facing one of the UK's greatest assets – our universities." Of course the obvious reason is that in their political judgement it's not an issue as regards garnering votes.

In short, while Professor Smith may consider support for the universities to be "one of the instruments for the UK's long-term economic strength", as a political weapon it's a damp squib and it would appear  increasingly so in Australia as well.

And despite the latest reduction in Labor's and Mr Rudd's popularity, the probability of Labor retaining government remains. The return of Malcolm Turnbull to the fray being a strong signal that he believes Mr Abbott will fall and in consequence there will become a vacancy for Liberal leadership. Of course were Mr Abbott to begin to look like a real threat and were he to champion higher education, research and learning as being of paramount importance, then matters might be different. But then again pigs might fly.