The Minister for Education, Science and Training, Brendan Nelson, gave clear indication when he gave the Chalmers Oration at the Flinders Medical Centre in July this year that it is the Prime Minister, John Howard, who is the prime instigator in regard to bringing the universities to heel.

When you become a Cabinet Minister, the Prime Minister writes you ... a Charter Letter. It sets out the Prime Minister's expectations of what you will do and what will be the priorities for you in your portfolio. [I]n relation to Universities, [it] said that I should understand and enunciate the importance of higher education to the Australian community, and I should continue to progress workplace relations reform in the sector.

In the event Dr. Nelson consulted among others the then Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Tony Abbott, and a concoction referred to by Alan Gilbert, Vice-Chancellor of Melbourne University as "bureaucracy run riot" was the result. Professor Gilbert was specifically referring to the sections dealing with the Government's determination to micromanage the universities with respect to governance and workplace relations.

While the government's parsimony with regard to higher education has been decried previously by such bodies as the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee, the Group of Eight and the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies to mention a few of the heavyweights, there appears to be a collective moan of resignation that it is difficult to get the constructive attention of a government that has determined that throwing extravagant stones at seaborne invading hoards of would-be refugees is a much better re-election bet than redeveloping the nation's disintegrating university sector.

However, the Australian Coalition is not unique in its determination to teach the universities to remember who cracks the whip. The governing Israeli Likud-led Coalition has been pressing to enact legislation to Dawkinsise its higher educational system by attacking the pre-eminent position of its seven research universities and destructively diluting the nation's research effort. That is now a fait accompli and its consequences remain to be felt.

In a November 14^th opinion piece written for the Israeli liberal daily, Ha'aretz, Elia Leibowitz, Professor of Astronomy at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Institute of Astronomy, forcefully concludes his argument under the title He that eats his own flesh is a fool with:

The research universities in Israel are the only institutions in the society which have as their very purpose the cultivation of [intelligence and rational independent thought] these elements of the human spirit.

    True, intellectual curiosity and respect for the truth are qualities that can be found in the activity of other educational institutions as well, such as technical schools and colleges.

    However, scepticism, independence of thought and uncompromising aspiration to reach the truth are not the essence of existence of these other institutions. Certainly they are not the top priority of any other body or institution, with the possible exception of certain units in Military Intelligence.

    On the other hand, many elements in the society, above all political and commercial advertising, work against these values, usually knowingly and deliberately, and sometimes explicitly and openly.

    The research universities in Israel, which almost alone bear the flag of rationalism and independent thought in Israeli society, constitute the most vital element for our survival as a Jewish state in the Middle East. In recent years these institutions have come under intensifying attack from various quarters of Israeli society, headed by the government of Israel.

    These attacks are now reaching unprecedented peaks, such as in the government's decision, taken in September of this year, which is embellished with the Orwellian phrase, "Plan to Enhance Higher Education."

    According to this decision, universities that will not leap to attention at the command of Finance Ministry officials and that will not accept their dictates about how to conduct scientific research and how to build up institutions geared for this, will have their budgets slashed by dozens of percentage points.

    The Israeli government's subverting of the foundations of the country's research institutions is not just cutting off an important branch on which the Jewish state is perched; it is in fact pulling out the root of our existence.

    Ecclesiastes 4:5 describes "The fool [who] folds his hands together and has to eat his own flesh." That individual is undoubtedly undergoing a profound economic crisis. He is suffering from genuine hunger. But he eats his own flesh and thinks that he is thereby saving his life.

 

One needn't be the wisest of men to agree with the conclusion that this person is nothing but a fool.

The question Australians can put, is, "if the Israeli government's subverting of the foundations of the country's research institutions is in fact pulling out the root of its existence, are Dr Nelson's nostrum's applying to a cultivar not "genetically engineered" to withstand the herbicide?"

The critical nature of the confrontation between the Australian Government and the universities was unintentionally sheeted home by the Treasurer, Peter Costello, when he brought down the 2002/2003 budget. He gave prominence to what he called the "Intergenerational Report" stating:

Mr Speaker, tonight, as part of the Budget, I am releasing the landmark [100 page] Intergenerational Report. ...What challenges will our children and their children have to confront in forty years time? What shape will Australia’s finances be in 2042 based on current policies? And what should we do now to prepare for the generations ahead?

In the whole of the 4400 word address the word "research" or the phrase "higher education" went unsaid while "university" or "universities" shone out with this single reference:

This Budget has a programme to upgrade or replace high care homes in rural, remote and urban fringe areas and also includes funding to encourage more people to take up aged care nursing with 250 aged care nursing scholarships at rural and regional university campuses

The matter of, what should we do now to prepare for the generations ahead apparently didn't seem to involve the higher education and research sectors in Mr Costello's vision of preparing Australia's people for 2042.

Matters improved in the next budget speech as far as recognising the existence of universities and research; in fact the speech included a section devoted to "Investing in Education".

Mr Speaker, tonight the Government is announcing far-reaching reforms to Australia's higher education system. These reforms will free up universities, and allow them to build on their strengths. Universities will gain access to increased Commonwealth support and have more flexibility in setting course fees...

    Universities wishing to increase their research capacity will have greater scope to do so. Universities wishing to build teaching excellence will have greater scope to do so...

    Our universities must provide the quality courses that our students want and our nation needs. And to ensure that students and the community get the best value from our investment, the Government will be seeking significant improvements in governance and workplace relations within the sector.

Considering what has transpired with regard to the higher education sector in the six months since the 2003-04 budget was brought down, contemplating the conundrum of which end to believe when confronted by a snarling dog vigorously wagging his tail seems appropriate.

    As one university vice-chancellor was recently quoted commenting, "Nelson has quite successfully divided the sector whether he intended to or not. We're having to fight for crumbs."  So goes the Knowledge Economy.

Is this the government's reply to the Treasurer's May 2002 question, what should we do now to prepare for the generations ahead?

He who eats his own flesh is indeed a fool.

Alex Reisner

The Funneled Web