A few weeks ago I republished an excellent article on the Government's poorly conceived and executed higher education "reforms" from Stephen Parker. His was a cogent and spirited attack on "ideology in search of a problem". The justifications of the reforms by the government amount to little more than confused rhetoric, attempting to "spin" away the mean-spirited dogma.
John Quiggin has also provided a spirited and cogent attack on the "reforms".
In contrast, Ian Young (Vice Chancellor at ANU) attempted to fill the intellectual void with a flawed attempt in support of the reforms in front of the National Press Club a month or so ago.
Now Glyn Davis (Vice Chancellor at Melbourne University) has made an attempt to justify the elite universities' support for the reforms - it seems it is all simply a desperate attempt to shore up funding in the face of the continuing erosion of Commonwealth funding. Well, at least he's honest! Nevertheless, he makes some useful points.
