Britain’s top universities blast push to give Scott Morrison veto over higher ed deals with foreign entities

Major deals with Oxford, Cambridge and other top British universities are in jeopardy.

The University of Oxford in Britain. Picture: John Cairns

Major deals with Oxford, Cambridge and other top British universities will be jeopardised by Scott Morrison’s push to have the final say over the higher education sector’s arrangements with foreign entities, the UK equivalent to the Group of Eight claims.

The Russell Group of leading British universities is backing a submission by the Go8 into a parliamentary inquiry on the Foreign Relations Bill, with sandstone institutions calling it a threat to research partnerships, academic freedom and the Australian economy post-COVID.

The intervention of the Russell Group, whose 24 British members including Oxford and Cambridge dominate the world’s university rankings, is the biggest hit yet from a global ally against the Prime Minister’s intention to scrutinise state government, local government and university deals with other countries and bring them into line with the national interest.

Russell Group chief executive Tim Bradshaw writes that the bill as it stands is not clear enough about what protections British universities would have in dealing with Australian counterparts, and suggests it would complicate a post-Brexit UK-Australia trade deal. “I am very concerned at the impact that the Australian Foreign Relations (State and Territory ­Arrangements) Bill 2020 could have on the capacity of our members to continue to engage with Australian universities,” he states.

“This bill introduces significant uncertainty, unpredictability and indeed risk into any engagement Russell Group members might undertake with an Australian university partner.

“This is particularly unfortunate at a time when the UK is actively looking to develop a free-trade deal with Australia in which we hope it will be possible to strengthen collaborative ties in research and education between our two nations.”

Britain is Australia’s third-­biggest research partner after China and the US, and many of the nation’s leaders, including Mr Morrison’s predecessors Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott, and Julia Gillard, have study and work links with Russell Group universities.

Under the new foreign deal laws, Australian universities would be forced to complete a stocktake of partnerships with foreign­ government organisations and have existing agreements audited­ by the Department of Foreign­ ­Affairs and Trade.

The Australian Foreign Relations Bill, designed to implement greater transparency across the higher education sector, would provide flexibility for universities to negotiate research deals but they would be required to ­notify Foreign Minister Marise Payne before finalising agreements.

Universities that have entered into commercial arrangements or signed memorandums of understanding with Chinese government institutes and military universities face having their ­current and future research collab­orations scrapped if the deals are deemed not in the nat­ional interest.

A spokeswoman for Senator Payne said the government will consider any changes the inquiry recommends to the final bill.

“Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020 is intended to foster a systematic and consistent approach to engagement with foreign governments and related entities,” she told The Australian.

“The Bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee and the government will carefully consider its recommendations.”

The Russell Group’s condemnation comes as Australian universities united to criticise the bill in a series of submissions to the parliamentary inquiry.

The Go8 — representing leading research universities including the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne and the ANU — says the bill is not fit for purpose and will do extensive damage to a recovering economy.

“The Go8 asks, ‘What investor, what business, would ever enter into a negotiation where our member universities have no autonomy to sign a contract, and that contract can be disallowed, even after it is signed off and under way?’ ” it says.