Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
I have never really understood those lines, and I don’t understand now.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Education Minister, and the public servants in the Department, love the university sector. I have never met someone in public life who did not believe they were doing the right thing.
But today the smell of tall poppies burning is everywhere. How very 20th century Australia! I thought we had moved on and upwards, aiming to keep up with the Asian century.
It started with a bitter look.
Whenever pressures mount, blaming others, foreigners in particular, is one approach. Or the so-called elites. Looking deeper shows that hitting Australia at its heart, at its head, won’t help. International students contribute to the economy and connect us to the world. But that first glance set us down this path as politicians seemed to worry that temporary migrants – students, of whom only about a fifth even stay in Australia, and that fifth only because they fill labour shortages – could be an election focus. Alas if only that first bitter look had been stared down and the view corrected, as seems to be happening in the US now.
And before this, the flattering word.
The Universities Accord sang of investment in education. It celebrated the unparalleled success of Australia and its growing culture of betterment through learning. It insisted that no one should be left behind and planned for growth. But how do universities grow while being cut? The NTEU has made a plea that no jobs be lost. How can that be achieved?
There is an odd idea that the cuts will somehow strengthen the sector and ensure ‘social licence’. Top universities were already self-moderating their growth and requesting research funding so that they were not compelled to pay for research via taking ever more international students. Caps certainly didn’t strengthen universities in Canada. They cannot meet those caps and ours won’t be filled either – this is known – the memo talks about a redistribution of unused places each April!
And there was a kiss.
While everyone was looking for answers from the Accord – a way of funding teaching that was better than the much-derided Job Ready Graduates package, or a policy for covering the real costs of research – neither was prioritised. Instead, there was a nod to student support – a genuine kiss – reduced HECS debts, some support for students on placements, the removal of penalties for struggling students who failed first year. A kiss but no housekeeping money, no dowry, no plan, for the universities, just a kiss for the students.
Then the brave man used the knife to cut.
Courageous. The aim is to cut the most successful universities to allow those struggling to expand. In Australia some universities are struggling but the government already has the answer – Needs Based Funding. The answer is not to hobble world class institutions. One doesn’t win the war for talent by sidelining your in-form players. Virtually no one believes that capping in-demand universities is the answer to supporting universities whose enrolments are falling.
Why do I care?
Like the politicians and public servants, I care about Australia, our culture, our productivity, our economy, our security, our sovereign capability. I also care about my colleagues. I love it when we grow and educate more students, and generate more rewarding jobs.
I have loved how Australia has become the intellectual capital of Asia. I have loved how a culture of curiosity, of seeking ideas, rather than of playing the man and being confrontational, has gradually gained traction.
I have loved what has emerged from our investments in learning – the wonderful students and our international connections and all those inventions from Australian minds trained here – WiFi, the Gardasil vaccine, the bionic ear, flexible contact lenses, solar panels, Google maps, and The Conversation, and the idea of HECS funding.
I loved the way we held together during COVID and for the most part listened to the science and got things right.
I have loved seeing our universities emerging on the world stage, and I have loved knowing my fellow Australians and their kids can benefit from a world class education here. I love competing with the world – and winning. Australia has been doing that.
But now this – now a severe body blow to hope.
I said I didn’t understand the stanza from Oscar Wilde’s poem above, and nor have I quite given up hope for Australian universities, but today was the worst day I have seen – and I have seen a lot.
We were as men who through a fen
Of filthy darkness grope:
We did not dare to breathe a prayer,
Or to give our anguish scope:
Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope.
Oscar Wilde – Ballad of Reading Gaol
Prof. Merlin Crossley
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Quality
