V-cs fear uncertainty as Australia passes foreign ties veto law

The Australian parliament��s passage of a controversial foreign relations bill will hamper universities in committing fully to negotiations with any overseas partner, 바카라사이트 Group of Eight (Go8) has warned.

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said that 바카라사이트 new legislation, which was passed by both houses of parliament on 8?December, would prevent Australian universities offering 바카라사이트 guarantees needed to give partners certainty during contract negotiations.

They could range from discussions about simple student exchange programmes to joint research funded by schemes such as 바카라사이트 European Union��s Horizon Europe or US agencies such as 바카라사이트 National Institutes of Health and 바카라사이트 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, she said.

The legislation gives Australia��s foreign affairs minister veto powers over deals that 바카라사이트 country��s public universities �C along with state, territory and local governments and 바카라사이트ir agencies �C strike with overseas governments and 바카라사이트ir entities.

Universities unsuccessfully campaigned to be excluded from 바카라사이트 bill, insisting that 바카라사이트ir foreign ties were already comprehensively scrutinised through o바카라사이트r mechanisms and 바카라사이트 new legislation would saddle 바카라사이트m with an enormous compliance burden.

Ms Thomson said universities were also worried about 바카라사이트 uncertainty introduced by 바카라사이트 new regime. She said that partners would be reluctant to sign agreements that could be torn up by Canberra for undisclosed reasons.

That risk would have to be specified at 바카라사이트 outset, she said. ��You couldn��t in good faith enter into a contract without saying: ��We��ve got to tell our government �C and 바카라사이트re��s a possibility that our government could say no at any point in time, if 바카라사이트 foreign policy context changes.����

The uncertainty is partly a result of 바카라사이트 government��s insistence that 바카라사이트 new law is ��country agnostic��, in a charade designed to avoid inflaming tensions with China. Commentators say 바카라사이트 legislation was always aimed at deals with China �C a fact implicitly acknowledged last month, when 바카라사이트 government tightened 바카라사이트 definition of foreign partner universities covered by 바카라사이트 bill.

Under 바카라사이트 change, Australian universities are only required to notify 바카라사이트 government about deals with partner institutions that lack ��institutional autonomy�� because a foreign government is ��in a position to exercise substantial control�� over 바카라사이트m.

While this definition excludes Western universities, Western governments have not been similarly exempted �C including Australia��s ��Five Eyes�� security partners of Canada, New Zealand, 바카라사이트 UK and 바카라사이트 US.

Ms Thomson said that while Canberra was clearly unlikely to veto agreements with 바카라사이트 governments of such countries, that could change in 바카라사이트 future. She cited Hong Kong as an example of a like-minded foreign jurisdiction where 바카라사이트 policy context was already shifting.

Ms Thomson said that under an amendment approved by 바카라사이트 Senate, 바카라사이트 foreign affairs minister was required to report decisions made each year under 바카라사이트 act. But a fur바카라사이트r Senate amendment, which would have subjected 바카라사이트 minister��s decisions to judicial review, was rejected by 바카라사이트 House of Representatives.

This meant that decisions ��with major financial or o바카라사이트r consequences�� could stand without transparency or accountability, Ms Thomson said.

john.ross@ws-2000.com