Will, Emma (SEN)
From:	Martin Branagan [mbranaga@pobox.une.edu.au]
Sent:	Friday, 30 March 2001 4:20 PM
To:	eet.sen@aph.gov.au
Subject:	army holding cake raffle
Dear Committee Members,

Please find below my submission to the Higher Education Enquiry.

I commenced my studies at the University of Sydney in 1980, completed a 
BA and later a Dip.Ed and have recently returned to postgraduate studies 
and tutoring in the department of Professional Studies at the University 
of New England. Some things have improved in that time, largely thanks 
to the Internet boom. Overall, however, I have been dismayed at the move 
away from regarding universities as taxpayer-funded, independent 
entities devoted to education and research, to places where financial 
considerations come before all else. Here at UNE a well-respected Modern 
Greek course has recently been axed, simply because it was not 
considered financially viable, despite the long-term international 
cultural and economic benefits such a course creates. So much of our 
language, philosophies and politics came from Greece that I believe this 
is a serious loss to our academic community. Similarly, Italian courses 
are under threat, and people trained as educators are now finding they 
must instead spend their time in seeking corporate sponsorship, an area 
where they may have little expertise. Many staff have left, often to 
work overseas. We will never be the Smart Country with this continuing 
brain drain. The mood here and at other universities is certainly not 
one of optimism; rather there is a feeling that the sword of Damocles 
hangs over us. 

And while I would welcome greater financial input into our universities 
from corporations (particularly the big ones, who benefit greatly from 
uni-educated staff yet put little back in), I believe that this should 
happen via the taxation system, rather than through direct corporate 
sponsorship. In my opinion, the latter leads to undue influence on 
academic course content, and directs research in ways more likely to 
profit the corporation than the community at large. Universities should 
certainly dialogue with business, but should remain independent and 
unbiased.

Personally, the introduction of HECS has left me still some $5ooo in 
debt, and struggling to survive financially, without Austudy or Youth 
Allowance. My partner, child and I are trying to pay rent and eat on a 
combined income of less than $20 000 per year.

The argument is usually advanced that times are tough and everyone is 
having to tighten their belts. Governments are supposedly reining in  
their spending and letting markets rule. Why then does the military get 
all it asks for, and in fact massive increases? The Cold War is over, 
and regional flareups or oppression that call for our help can surely be 
better solved by diplomacy or sanctions than by military means. 
And why do multinationals continue to get a huge slice of taxpayers’ 
money, when they are already wealthy organisations who pay much less tax 
than the rest of us? 
Surely these are areas of government spending that could be cut before 
universities, health, social services and education in general.

Sincerely,
Marty Branagan
BA Dip.Ed.
mbranaga@metz.une.edu.au  

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