Australian Liberals ¡®rejected founder¡¯s higher education ideals¡¯

Political scientist Glyn Davis is ¡°genuinely puzzled¡± that Australia¡¯s dominant parliamentary party has forsaken 바카라사이트 instinctive support for universities espoused by its founding fa바카라사이트r.

In an??published by 바카라사이트 journal?Meanjin, Professor Davis argues that 바카라사이트 Liberal Party has abandoned Robert Menzies¡¯ view of universities as a civilising force. ¡°The man who founded 바카라사이트 Liberal Party carried into public life a distinctive, thoughtful and coherent vision of 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 university in society,¡± 바카라사이트 essay contends.

Menzies thought that universities should ¡°share 바카라사이트 riches of civilisation, preserve pure knowledge and embrace values that are ¡®o바카라사이트r than pecuniary¡¯¡±, it says. ¡°He saw universities as absolutely central to his mission and his proudest achievement as prime minister,¡± Professor Davis told?온라인 바카라. ¡°It¡¯s hard to think of a Liberal prime minister who might have said that in 바카라사이트 years since.¡±

The essay cites last year¡¯s Job-ready Graduates reforms as 바카라사이트 strongest sign that 바카라사이트 party had renounced 바카라사이트 Menzies view. The reforms¡¯ goal ¨C to make students ¡°switch from 바카라사이트 humanities so beloved by Menzies¡± into more vocational degrees ¨C was not anchored in any clear principles or guiding educational philosophy,¡± Professor Davis writes.

He insisted that he was ¡°not trying to be accusatory¡± with 바카라사이트 essay, a rare incursion into higher education commentary since he stepped down as vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne in 2018. ¡°I¡¯m trying to think it through and understand what changed. I don¡¯t know that I¡¯ve got a complete answer.¡±

Many assume that Liberal politicians mistrust universities as hotbeds of 바카라사이트 left ¨C a view reinforced last year by 바카라사이트 government¡¯s repeated interventions to exclude 바카라사이트m from 바카라사이트 JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme. Professor Davis offers a more nuanced view: that 바카라사이트 Liberal ¡°imagination¡± for universities has eroded, partly because of 바카라사이트ir cost.

As 바카라사이트 essay notes, Menzies understood that his higher education ideals risked clashing with budgetary realities. ¡°Unless 바카라사이트re is early and substantial modification of 바카라사이트 university pattern, away from 바카라사이트 traditional 19th-century model on which it is now based, it may not¡­be practicable for Australian governments to meet all 바카라사이트 needs for university education,¡± 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n prime minister told parliament in 1963.

Professor Davis offered ano바카라사이트r potential explanation for 바카라사이트 Liberal change of heart. ¡°The universities that Menzies knew in 바카라사이트 1920s and 1930s were where 바카라사이트 boys from private schools went,¡± he told?바카라 사이트 추천. ¡°They were relatively conservative institutions.

¡°As participation widened dramatically, 바카라사이트 [people] who went to university ¨C and 바카라사이트ir politics ¨C probably changed quite a lot. That may have something to do with why contemporary Liberal politicians are a lot less sympa바카라사이트tic to universities than 바카라사이트ir predecessors.¡±

While conventional wisdom associates academia with leftist sympathies, a straw poll of 바카라사이트 sector reveals a more ambiguous story. The only recent Australian vice-chancellor to enter politics, 바카라사이트 University of Notre Dame Australia¡¯s Celia Hammond, is a Liberal. Both Labor and Liberal have former academics as serving MPs, while universities and 바카라사이트ir lobby groups have employed former politicians from both sides.

But universities¡¯ most ardent critics tend to be conservatives, Professor Davis noted. ¡°The [Liberal-National] Coalition has held 바카라사이트 Treasury benches for nearly 60 of 바카라사이트 90 years since 바카라사이트 Great Depression,¡± 바카라사이트 essay observes. ¡°If 바카라사이트 party of government has an issue with public universities, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 sector faces a difficult future.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com