Will the Cabinet Announced on Saturday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard be Good, Bad or Indifferent, Functional or Dysfunctional? (September 13, 2010)

Whether or not the make-up of the Cabinet announced on Saturday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard is good, bad or indifferent, functional or dysfunctional, is -- to rework a phrase -- "a mystery wrapped in an enigma". But if nothing else it has elevated the matter of higher education from the middle pages of the media to have a few moments centre stage.

First, the listing of the Gillard Cabinet:

The joker in the pack is the reappointment of Peter Garrett to a Cabinet post. It's somewhat reminiscent of the a 19^th century conundrum, "What shall we do for and with Algernon". For several possible reasons dumping Mr Garrett from Cabinet appears not to have been deemed a viable option. That left the question of where to place him so that he would draw least flak. Education per se would have left him pitted against the tertiary education sector which not only looked like a poor match up, it had the potential of rousing more media attention than desirable. On the other hand if responsibility for tertiary education (and schools' infrastructure) were split off and buried under Jobs, Skills and Workplace Relations* the tough and seasoned Chris Evans would handle it.  That left Mr Garrett with Schools, Early Childhood and Youth, which ought to allow him to keep a reasonably low profile.

And of course to suggest the debacle of the roof insulation program was the singular responsibility of Peter Garrett is ludicrous; there is every likelihood he was heavily leaned on to Get The Job Done, MATE.

In what appears to be something of an apologia, Ms Gillard says that Senator Evans: "...will have the undergraduate end of higher education as I did and [Innovation, Industry and Science Minister], Kim Carr will have the research and post graduate end, which he has looked after for the last three years," while the Senator in a Don Watsoness turn of phrase claims: "What she's actually done is lifted the priority by putting two Cabinet ministers in the portfolio."

And to substantiate the fear of Universities Australia chairman Professor Peter Coaldrake that  the omission of a reference to education may signal an inadequate understanding of the role higher education plays... Senator Evans told the ABC he will make employment training a priority under his appointment to meet the growing demand for skilled workers in Western Australia: "It's important that we provide those skills to grow those economies... the solution's got to be up-skilling our own people, training our people, making sure that young Australians get opportunities for high-skilled, high-paid jobs."

Meanwhile,  Group of Eight executive director, Michael Gallagher -- obviously disquieted -- said this morning:

It seems that higher education is now reduced to skills and its purposes synonymous with training. The Government seems to be narrowing the concept of education so that it's about skilling rather than the deeper learning a civilised, progressive society needs. The problem is the one-dimensional worldview...

We understand the Government is focused on helping people get skills they need to get a job and we support that agenda. However, Australia has a particularly narrow view of skills compared to other countries. Unarguably there is a need to elevate the importance of skills, to broaden the notion of skills, and to increase skill levels - but that can be done without diminishing higher education. The nature of learning in a university is important.

Skills formation is about mastering a set of competencies. Higher education is about developing understanding and critical analysis. It's about learning to deal with ambiguity and think about things beyond what is known.

Mr Gallagher then made this request:

The Group of Eight would like an open discussion on these issues with the Ministers responsible. We'd like to better understand its agenda for tertiary education, who will be responsible for driving reform and who will champion the links between the education sectors and ensure the policy approach is consistent and coherent? It should not be assumed that higher education is finished business, because it's not. The big questions of structure and sustainable financing have yet to be addressed, and the over-regulation envisaged for TEQSA must be overturned.

And finally:  We look forward to a government statement about the wider purposes of the pursuit of knowledge, the civilising influences of education, and the importance of developing creative and critical capacities.

The Prime Minister has made much of her intention to be a consultative leader. Here is a good initial test.

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*Senator Evans has told ABC Radio National that after speaking with the Prime Minister last night they decided to alter his title to include tertiary education.

Oh well, an after thought, even when under pressure, may be better than no thought.