"Left Liberal Bias in Academia" is Fuelling Perception the Coalition is Not Interested In Universities Says John Howard. (May 14, 2007)

    According to Samantha Maiden's article in last Saturday's Australian the Prime Minister, John Howard: "Many people would argue that the foundation of the modern university system in this country was in fact laid down when Menzies was prime minister of this country," and the Coalition's $5billion Higher Education Endowment Fund is "only a beginning".

Frankly if Robert Menzies were aware of how the 11 year rein of  John Howard has decimated and demoralised Australia's universities he'd probably have a seizure in his grave.

Academics left, right or centre having been exposed to John Howard's throttling of nation's higher education sector for over a decade can thank the Coalition's panic over Labor's current lead in the polls for and gains they may obtain from this year's budget.

But already there are those that are checking the teeth in gift horse's mouth, as in "the devil is in the detail".

According to Michael Gallagher a former senior bureaucrat in David Kemp's Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and for a while in Brendan Nelson's DEST before getting into bed with the enemy by taking the position of Australian National University's policy director, "The deregulation of fees and HECS degrees is the most significant component [of the budget's higher education package]. It's taking the chains off. [But t]he Government is still setting the same rate for HECS everywhere, so it doesn't take into account different costs in delivery. But this whole package is moving a bit more to make the market work. Nelson had all this rhetoric about making the market work. But he tied everything down."

Makes one wonder what the University of California, Berkeley or Harvard would become if subjected predominantly to "market forces".

Dr Gallagher next month is to take up the executive directorship of the Group of Eight. And one thing is certain, he has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the workings of the current government's ministerial mind. He tells The Australian that the the Higher Education Endowment Fund is:

a very welcome initiative. But it's about the same amount of money - $300 million - that was committed by the government in 1992 to the capital roll in. That's an annual amount they get for annual maintenance. But we don't know what the rules of the game are yet in terms of what you have to comply with to be eligible. It's unpredictable. This is a bidding process so it will be volatile. The risk is downstream the Government may cut some of the other infrastructure funding pool.

[And just remember] You're probably talking for a classroom block anywhere up from $35 million to well in excess of $100 million for a dedicated research school. Our John Curtin School for Medical Research, that's in the order of $100 million.

And then Dr Gallagher concludes:

[T]he abolition of present caps on full-fee degrees in Australia... [is] a much-needed correction to the incongruous Nelson reforms. There was over-the-top micro-regulation. This basically gives universities a lot more flexibility and discretion. In combination with the removal of the caps on fees, I think that will allow universities to position themselves differently. They will be able to offer different course packages at different prices. They can more readily respond to student demand. The nasties are what is not in there. There's no indexation, but there is an increase in the funding in certain subject areas such as engineering.

It's going to be interesting just what influence Dr Gallagher will have when he assumes the executive director's chair for the Group of Eight; it may even get an extreme make over and become The Group of Eight, pty ltd.