Professor Max Lu, the University of Wollongong’s vice chancellor, makes it clear from the outset he wants to talk about the future – which is unsurprising, given the maelstrom that has engulfed his institution over the past couple of years.

There are the four deficits in the past five years, union unrest over course and job cuts, and accusations of a conflict of interest involving consultancy KordaMentha, raised in multiple submissions to a federal Senate inquiry into university governance.