Tony Abbott accuses ANU of trying to rewrite Ramsay history

Tony Abbott has accused ANU’s leadership of trying to ‘rewrite history’ in defending their rejection of the Ramsay Centre.

Tony Abbott in Canberra yesterday.

The stoush between the Australian National University and the Ramsay Centre has escalated, with former prime minister Tony Abbott accusing the university’s leadership of attempting to “rewrite history” in their public ­defence of a decision not to host a course on Western civilisation.

University chancellor Gareth Evans and vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt yesterday announced they had withdrawn from negotiations with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation because of the centre’s “continued demands for control over the program” that they claimed were inconsistent with the university’s academic autonomy.

In an opinion piece published in The Australian they said there were “irreconcilable differences” over the proposed program’s governance. “We were willing to accept the Ramsay Centre having a voice in curriculum design and staff appointments. But only a voice, not a controlling influence,” they wrote.

Mr Abbott yesterday penned a letter to The Australian claiming the university’s own records showed the curriculum recommendations and hiring decisions for the proposed program would be carried out in line with normal university processes.

“The chancellor and vice-chancellor of the ANU would have done well to consult their own records before trying to rewrite history,” he said.

Mr Abbott said a summary of the draft agreement between the ANU and Ramsay Centre written on a university letterhead had been posted on ANU’s website weeks earlier.

“Clause 15 stated: ‘Curriculum recommendations will be made by the partnership management committee (consisting of two academic staff from the Ramsay Centre and two academics from the ANU …) and considered through the normal ANU academic processes’,” Mr Abbott said.

“Clause 25 stated: ‘Hiring decisions will be made … in accordance with the normal hiring processes of the University …. The Ramsay Centre will have a limited number of nominees on the selection committee’.”

Mr Abbott said the proposed curriculum and hiring processes were “perfectly acceptable” to the Ramsay Centre.

“How can the university ­leadership now describe this as an ‘extraordinarily prescriptive micromanagement approach’ when — prior to taking fright — this is what had been agreed?” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Ramsay Centre also rejected the university leadership’s claims it had sought a controlling interest.

“The Ramsay Centre never sought a controlling influence or veto in curriculum design and staff appointments,” she said. “Discussions between the negotiating teams were amicable and engaging for us all.”

She confirmed the ANU posted on its website a list of FAQs in relation to the partnership in April, including clause 25 which said Ramsay Centre nominees on the hiring committee would have to be “suitably qualified academics agreeable to the ANU”.

“It is clear from these FAQs that final control of curriculum and hiring would be in the hands of the university,” she said.

Professor Schmidt said he had decided to spell out the univer­sity’s reason for walking away from the course, after historian Geoffrey Blainey urged the ANU to “explain themselves in the public square” in a column in The Weekend Australian.

In their opinion piece Mr Evans and Professor Schmidt said the Ramsay centre refused to ­accept the university’s preferred name for the degree, Western civilisation studies.

“The univer­sity has never accepted gifts with such restrictions as demanded by Ramsay, and under our watch as chancellor and vice-chancellor never will,” they said.

The proposed degree was due to commence next year.