The Federal Government's appointment of former Liberal MP Bruce Baird to immediately head up a review our international education industry is both practically and politically a brilliant solution to a burgeoning disaster. The lure of making a quick buck has overcome any lingering feeling that we should ensure quality is being maintained at vital points along the assembly line that the college system has become.
After saying nothing as the system developed its own, Frankenstein-like momentum during the years of John Howard's government, and then doing nothing despite warning after warning during the initial stages of Julia Gillard's take-over of the portfolio, the chickens have finally come home to roost. Because the students being ''educated'' here are mostly foreign, the looming disaster hasn't registered as a domestic political problem. Nevertheless, unless it is addressed, urgently and competently, this affair threatens to destroy our international reputation in the very countries where we need to nurture it most.
The appointment of yet another former Coalition MP to the job won't surprise anyone in the Government, of course. It's not as if Labor didn't have people perfectly capable of doing the job (think of the ANU's Chancellor, Kim Beazley, for a start), but it wasn't Rudd's instinct to offer them the task. He's gone his own way, and perhaps that explains why he's something of a natural loner. But the politics of the move is smart.
Baird's clever, knowledgeable and thorough enough to dissect the major problems in this vital industry. He holds an MBA from Melbourne and has been Trade Commissioner in Germany and New York. After an impressive stint as Transport Minister in Nick Greiner's NSW government, Baird came to Canberra in 1998. And although he worked hard and efficiently as a backbencher and on numerous government committees, and although he was respected and experienced, that's effectively where his career came to a rapid, shuddering, halt.
Whenever Howard needed a new minister, he seemed unable to see the capable person bouncing up under his nose, preferring others with far less skill, but with whom he felt more personal rapport. Baird languished in the limbo of Parliamentary Committees, until eventually he realised he'd never gain a ministry, and left at the same election that ushered Rudd into the Lodge. Nevertheless, Baird is still a former Liberal, and that will make it very difficult for them to criticise his findings.
As a gesture, the appointment appears to demonstrate that Rudd is acting ''above politics'', and not wanting to score political points off the previous government. Yet if the report is as accurate and detailed as is expected, there will be mud. With a former Liberal conducting the investigation, the findings will be that much harder for the opposition to duck.
Nevertheless, the fact that the recommendations come from someone without any political clout in the Labor movement will, however, be fortuitous if the Government later decides not to do anything about the report (I'm thinking climate change, for example). The fact that everyone is describing education as an ''industry'' should be enough to set off alarm bells that something very wrong is going on. There's a widening gulf between the ideal of Australia sharing its intellectual knowledge and understanding with enthusiastic overseas students; and the reality of colleges selling credentials to candidates who may have little interest in courses anyway. Altruism isn't involved, it's a business, and one in a lot of trouble now that the images have become so disconnected with reality.
The murky truth can be covered up successfully for years, but eventually it will out, and that's when examining peoples underlying motivations for their actions becomes vital. In some areas for example the Group of 8 Universities foreign students are undoubtedly getting world class qualifications and gaining valuable skills, but that's just the tip of a fast-melting iceberg. There are real doubts about what ''education'' means for the great mass of people who come here to study, and the dollar signs in front of the ''industry'' make it extremely difficult to work out just what's coming off the assembly lines of the multitude of colleges. It seems unlikely the Government will be prepared to look this gift-horse in the mouth, preferring instead just to turn a blind eye to keep the money flowing.
Unfortunately this is one of those issues that can't be brushed away. Like personal relationships, international relations are built on a moral core. If our motivations are deceitful or base, it will affect our actions and we'll pay the price in damage to our reputation in years to come.
The film Balibo demonstrates once again just how sordid our actions can be when our politicians didn't recognise the need to deal responsibly and honestly with individuals. Gough Whitlam gave a nod and a wink to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, a folly perpetuated by Labor until Laurie Brereton recognised the mistake. It's plainly evident that, more than 30 years after the events occurred, secret signals files are still being withheld from public view not because of security concerns, but simply to protect some individual reputations. The reality is that exposing our own government's complicity in the assault is too difficult to deal with.
A week before the election, Rudd said he was ''disturbed'' by the coronial investigation into the murder of the journalists depicted in the film, alleging it couldn't be just swept aside. Yet that's exactly what's happened until there's been a bit of renewed public focus on the issue. A cynic may ponder if that is what's going to happen to Baird's report, as well.
Nicholas Stuart is a Canberra writer.
nicstuart@hotmail.com
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