Karmel- right on public funding, wrong on structures
12 December 2000
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has endorsed Professor Peter Karmel’s call for substantial increases in public funding to Australian universities. However, his views on the role of government and his attempts to exclude the views of those working and studying within the sector should be rejected as outdated and paternalistic.
\"Professor Karmel is right to throw his reputation behind the growing call for significant increases in public funding for our universities\" Ted Murphy, NTEU National Assistant Secretary said. \"The groundswell in support of significant public investment in tertiary education means that any party which goes into next year’s federal election without such a commitment does so at their own peril.
\"The assumption that government has undue influence in the running of our universities is simply wrong. Australia already has one of the most decentralised tertiary education systems in the developed world and we are paying the price. Deregulation is the cause of our problems, not the solution. Similarly, Professor Karmel’s call for a system of student vouchers is not a solution and undermines pressure for increased public funding of universities.
\"However, Professor Karmel’s structural proposals would return us to the bad old days of paternalistic decision making structures based on status, rather than interest and involvement in the university system. He proposes a system based on a few hand picked ‘experts’ who are accountable to no one but themselves.
\"Professor Karmel’s proposal draws a false distinction between being expert and being representative, asserting the existence of pure objectivity. It is clearly possible to be both expert and representative, and any advisory body to government should be made up of such individuals. It would not possible to construct a body which meets his criteria due to the lack of candidates who are both expert and ‘objective’.
\"The university sector is currently suffering from a policy vacuum in Government, however this is not a result of undue influence by stakeholder groups. Indeed, it is the representative groups of staff, students and vice-chancellors which have the best articulated visions of what is required to ensure that Australian universities are able to meet the challenges of the twenty first century.\"