Arthur Sinodinos urges universities to tap US openings

Australia’s ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos says the nation’s university chiefs can benefit from the emerging power struggle between Washington and Beijing.

Arthur Sinodinos. Picture: Kym Smith

Australia’s ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, says the ­nation’s university chiefs can benefit from the emerging power struggle between Washington and Beijing.

With Australian universities under pressure over their links to China, foreign interference and an increasingly polarised global environment were the biggest topics at the Universities Australia conference in Canberra on Thursday.

Mr Sinodinos told the gathering of vice-chancellors via videolink that there were growing opportunities with the US as the Biden administration looked to bolster research and development with its Five Eyes intelligence partners, including Australia.

“This new world of prosperity, science and national security is likely to result in more interesting Five Eyes co-operation in university research,” he said. “The US is reviewing its supply chains in many of these areas and looking at the role that allies and partners can play, and the need for R & D capacity to sustain leadership in the development of critical tools and materials. There’s so much going on that we in Australia can take advantage of.”

Home Affairs and Defence ­officials at the conference praised the University Foreign Interference Taskforce set up between security agencies and universities, and the sector’s increased ­efforts on national security.

But University of Newcastle vice-chancellor Alex Zelinsky warned fellow university chiefs that the government would force anti-foreign interference rules on the higher education sector if it did not take national security risks seriously.

“It’s best to be working through self-regulation, adhering to standards, rather than having a sledge hammer being imposed on the sector,” he said.

Despite his support for UFIT, Professor Zelinsky attacked the government’s Foreign Relations Act – which gives Foreign Minister Marise Payne a veto over university deals with foreign actors.

“The intent is right but it’s not fit for purpose … it’s just not right for the sector, it is overreach and poorly designed,” he said.

The post-Covid recovery was also a major theme of the UA conference. Education Minister Alan Tudge used the event to warn universities to bring as many students back to campus as possible under Covid rules, with fears domestic students are losing out as universities keep many classes online.

Mr Sinodinos said Australian students would begin to look at US universities, which are opening up quickly due to a faster vaccine rollout. “As kids go back at the beginning of the new academic year here (in the US), I think there’ll be a lot of students in Australia who will … say, that’s a really good thing,” he said.