Sue asked:

What is missing from the campaign is any discussion about the urgency of climate change action (not just “yes, we are doing the bare minimum, and slowly’) and also funding of universities  and research (especially if overseas students will be reduced and funding support from the USA will be removed).

Sue points out that the campaign is missing discussion on:

• the urgency of climate action, and
• funding of universities and research (given overseas student numbers will be reduced and funding support from the USA may be removed).

Climate change

This is absolutely true. While the 2022 election has been dubbed ‘the climate election’, discussion of this global emergency has been muted this time around. Instead, the election has been dominated by the ‘cost-of-living’, failing to acknowledge that climate change is already driving up the cost-of-living and this is only likely to get worse. While Labor’s climate policies are better than the Coalition’s nuclear fantasies, even the Albanese Government’s own predictions don’t see emissions falling until 2028, “at which point they brilliantly drop at a constant rate to 43% below 2005 levels by 2030”. 

University funding

This is also true. The university sector continues to have a vacuum of responsibility. The federal government provides funding to universities, but most regulation is left to the states, which have mostly also not taken responsibility. This has created a general governance crisis in the sector, a crisis which is now being exacerbated by Trump and scaremongering about international students.

The Trump White House is threatening funding for important research in Australia by quizzing universities on whether projects accord with the administration’s extreme views on things such as climate change and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), we’ve written more about this here. The Albanese Government is creating further financial issues for universities by trying to cap international student places, the Coalition promises an even harsher cap. This is a misguided attempt to fix the housing crisis, which is not caused by international students or migrants in general. However, it will also cause major financial issues for public universities as about a quarter of their revenue currently comes from international student fees.

The university sector is in desperate need of accountability and responsibility, it’s time for the federal government to take this role. It could start by implementing a range of reforms recommended by the Australia Institute, including measures to make university management more transparent and accountable, boosting public funding, and generally reorienting public universities towards the public good.