Universities "are decreasingly seen as a responsibility, let alone a component part, of the public".

That's true, because they are increasingly remote from, and out of touch with, the public, so few of the public having been victims of the brain-washing factories. The lady's 'selling of degrees' comment is apt.

Perhaps the government should fund universities more and decide, as with immigration, who goes to university. Austalians only, for starters.

All education, top to bottom must be privatised.
That one move will remove the scam it is, and the huge waste of public resources it is.

As we increasingly move towards a Charles Dickens exclusivist society, privatisation of this industry, will be honest and up front.

Dan

Yes we are, even as we expect future taxpayers to pay the debt we are creating.

We could solve some of the funding shortfalls by making all the unis private enterprise only and use a progressive means-tested endowment that exhausts at 200,000 a year.

And end the politically motivated garbage that continues to officially forbid nuclear energy.

With that done there'd be many more millions for research! TBC.
Alan B.

Count. And we could save more than we spend on tertiary education if we ended the rorts and ripoffs that are negative gearing, heavily subsided super for the better off and some aspects of family trusts that selectively entrench unearned and undeserved privilege.

Universities should be places filled by merit, not the size of the family's pocketbook.

An unavoidable universally applicable flat tax of 15%, would end the current tax shortfall and enable us to draw down debt while some current taxpayers are still alive!

Selectively preferred and preferences cooperative capitalism would as it did in other basket-case economies, get them up of the floor and competing with the best as they went from record strength to record strength.

Co-ops stood almost alone as the only private enterprise, free market, business model that survived the Great Depression largely intact! And given we fund and facilitate this model wherever we can? Put the nation back to work in productive enterprise.

We would outlaw all middlemen paper shuffling profit demanding middlemen/robber barons along with commission sales, to effectively have the cost of living/doing business. This and truly affordable energy and housing would free up massive discretionary spending as it massively boosts the domestic economy and tax receipts!

Someone in charge has to finally understand, volume massively outperforms margins! And that, whatever the market can bear, is Pollyanna pollywaffle or just plain dumb!
Alan B.

I understand that we have developed a vastly more comfortable spittle test and a nasal spray that kills the virus on contact.

Without our excellent research units in our universities, we'd be still groping in the dark around this virus.

We need more of the expert involvement and at the side of decision-making pollies so this science-free zone can finally accept the science on climate change, plus safe clean dispatchable energy and not only the cheapest in the world, but carbon-free to boot. Moreover, nuclear has fewer fatalities per gigawatt-hour than any other, including renewables!

And no, renewables are not as claimed by the science-free zone, the cheapest world's cleanest! MSR thorium is. And were the asinine prohibition be lifted on nuclear energy, there'd be millions in new research grants and a cancer-curing industry worth tens of annual billions!

But hey no, we don't want any of that nor a speedy recovery, least we tread on some coal-fired, troglodytes toes?
Alan B.

Correction of Grammarly's correction have the cost of living should be read as I wrote it, halve the cost of living. This correction has cost me a post. Thank you, Grammarly, so helpful!
Alan B.