Denying unis a lifeline is ideological wilful ignorance

There is a conspiracy theory within the Coalition that universities are hotbeds of left-wing ideological fervour.

Illustration: Eric Lobbecke

The potential damaging impacts of the coronavirus are all around us. And while the health challenge seems to be under control — with semi-normal life close to resuming and the curve officially flattening — the economic effects may last a generation.

Profound changes are likely across the economy, and that includes higher education. Australia’s second largest export sector will be hit hard by the conse­quences of limited international travel in the years ahead, and so far at least the government appears unwilling or unable to face up to the problems created by a dearth of international students.

We don’t know yet whether this wave of infections will be the first and last, or merely the beginning of a rolling crisis for years to come. Australia is better placed than most nations to quarantine: a benefit of our status as a geographically isolated island. We can therefore function as a somewhat self-contained domestic entity with a certain amount of comfort: when it comes to everything from food production to quality of living, Australia truly is the lucky country.

But there will be many changes. A closer look at domestic manufacturing is in the spotlight, for example. The tourism industry will be hit hard. Some exports, such as iron ore, will continue to do well. However, higher education won’t. Its value as an export sector has been in attracting overseas students to study here. That, at least for now, has ground to a halt. The best we can offer is continuing study online, which is not the reason foreign students choose to study at Australian universities.

Yes, the online learning capabilities of most higher education providers in this country are first-rate. So the product being offered can compete on a global stage.

But the comparative advantage Australian universities have enjoyed has been built on location, location, location. That is, the lifestyle benefits of studying here and experiencing Australia, alongside the potential to migrate Down Under once you are finished.

The backdoor visa system for foreign students at the completion of their studies has been the dirty little secret of the success of Australia’s second largest export sector. It is why so many students in our region have chosen Australian universities over universities in other parts of the world. Migrate to a great place to live, not too far from home.

Yes, our institutions punch above their weight — with several Australian universities ranked in the world’s top 100; proportionately high by global standards for a nation such as ours.

But the growth in the Chinese student market has mostly been about the immigration potential of studying here. Governments have welcomed it because it is skilled labour, meaning early social and economic dislocation issues migrants can face are minimised, and the extra numbers help prop up national accounts growth and tax receipts.

If online learning is the only option at Australian universities, Chinese students, for one, will study on campus elsewhere in the world or stay at home and chose a cheaper local institution. The expansion of Chinese universities in recent years has been huge and many have powered up the rankings.

Here in Australia, foreign students also have helped paper over the government cuts in funding for higher education; that is, cuts relative to the extra investment in universities we have seen by governments overseas and also relative to the growth in domestic student numbers.

Politicians like to crow about the fact more Australians are funnelling through our universities than ever. That growth has not been financed by adequate government investment but, rather, by full-fee-paying international students. With that market drying up because of the coronavirus crisis, Houston, we have a problem.

The government needs to face up to some stark choices: fund universities better to cover the emerging shortfall from fewer full-fee-paying overseas students; or accept a significant decline in domestic student numbers, alongside smaller, more boutique higher education institutions.

Usually in economic downturns more people enrol in further education, rather than simply going on to welfare, for example. But the rise and rise of HECS costs — as governments transfer more of the cost of studying on to students in a nod to the user-pays principle — has diminished that likelihood during this economic crisis. Besides, domestic fees aren’t enough to cover the costs of research, hence the dependence on foreign student fees.

While most people think of universities as teaching institutions, that is only half their role. Research output is the bedrock of higher learning.

Governments could choose to let our institutions wither on the vine in terms of research capacity. But in an era in which university research is leading the charge to find a vaccine for COVID-19, and given it is largely research that maintains higher rankings for institutions internationally, that would be perhaps the dumbest play of all.

To make matters worse for universities, in recent years inadequate research funding by governments has seen the sector turn towards collaboration to find funds. While some ideological warriors (yes, the culture wars strike again) like to attack our institutions for accepting funding from abroad (yes, not always in ways I approve of), the simple fact is shortfalls in domestic funding precipitated this approach.

And, with companies the world over turning inward and cutting costs, linked grants with universities are going to become only harder to come by.

So far the package the government has put forward to help universities has been limited, to say the least. Only the entertainment and arts sector has more to complain about. Australia’s second largest export sector certainly hasn’t received the kind of support we have seen handed out to other parts of the economy. It is hard not to see that failure through any prism other than cultural cringe, tall-poppy syndrome and certainly anti-intellectualism.

The war on expertise continues. There is a conspiracy theory within the Coalition that universities are hotbeds of left-wing ideological fervour. As though the broadbased behemoths most universities have become are defined by pockets of arts faculty-driven anti-Coalition sentiment that cling to life in some institutions. They might at times be loud, but they do not define the sector as a whole, nor do they limit its importance to the nation.

Peter van Onselen is political editor for the Ten Network and professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia and Griffith University.