''The changes that are associated with the re-emergence of China and India will have a more profound impact on the structure of Australia's economy than anything in our history,'' Dr Henry said.

''There is a lot of debate about these matters in Australia today, and a lot of it is uninformed. And that's the point. And there is a need for better informed public debate about these matters.''

The Australian National University yesterday launched its answer to this, a new public policy school modelled on Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

With Dr Henry as executive chairman, the Crawford School of Public Policy will bring experts from a range of disciplines within ANU together in an ambitious goal to advance traditional research and teaching, and also enhance the professional development of the public service.

Chancellor, Professor Gareth Evans, said this aspect of the university had not been fully explored.

''The truth of the matter is we haven't fully developed the potential of ANU in this respect,'' he said.

''We've long had multiple centres of excellence … we really had extraordinary capabilities around the place. But we were missing something. We were missing something that really gave a brand identity to ANU as a public policy university, as well as being an excellent teaching universality and an excellent research university.''

In time, Vice-Chancellor Ian Young said, the school would become a ''gateway'' with the Australian Public Service, providing expert policy advice and appointing outstanding public servants as academic fellows at the university.

Professor Young said the ANU would base its new school on Harvard University's Kennedy school, which he described as: ''A physical school with porous boundaries but the capability to be able to acknowledge and recognise expertise and bring together expertise right across the university''.

''It is through these elements that we believe ANU will be able to become clearly acknowledged as a public policy leader, not only in Australia but indeed a very significant international player in this space,'' he said.