The heat was turned up on an education debate, with nationwide mass meetings of academics, a student rally in Civic, and plans to boycott an accounting exam, reported in The Canberra Times, on this day in 1988. Academic staff from universities and colleges met around the country to protest against deteriorating work conditions, proposals for forced retrenchment, and sections of the higher education White Paper. It was reported that 250 academics unanimously passed a draft resolution from the Federation of Australian University Staff Associations and the Federation of College Academics. The resolution authorised academics to call 24-hour stoppages if staff members were made redundant or forced retrenchment arbitrated upon them. The ANU Staff Association president, Mr Ian Wilson, said there was provision for institutions to get rid of staff who were performing unsatisfactorily. The then Minister for Employment, Education and Training, Mr Dawkins, said academics were concerned about the aspects of the White Paper which they believed would centralise decision-making power in universities and colleges, permit the government to interfere in critical areas of decision-making and give it the power to enforce its will by withholding funding.