When ideas for long-term nation-building run up against the limitations imposed by a low tax-and-spend polity, in the short-term low tax wins every time. And the long-term in Australian politics and policy consists of the sum of all the short-terms.
We are now seeing cuts to public funding without increases in private funding. The international student market, which provides almost one university dollar in every five, has been in the doldrums since 2009. The Opposition implies a worse outcome, as its reading of the fiscal position is likely to result in large-scale spending reductions in many areas, including higher education.
When the political parties will not talk about the substance of higher education and research, we depend on civil society, the media, the public in all its forms, and the institutions of higher education and research themselves, to define and advance the issues. This book is designed to stimulate and contribute to such a process of discussion.
It has been prepared by academic staff associated with Australia’s principal research centre focused on higher education: the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of Melbourne. The chapters focus on the big policy issues facing tertiary education in Australia. They are research-based but prepared in a reader-friendly style to enhance discussion. They do not form a unified whole: there is no party line and some authors differ from others. The value of these chapters lies in their expertise: the authors are at the cutting edge of the issues they discuss.
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