By Natasha Simons
On May 14, representatives from Australia's 36 universities met with senior officials from the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) to discuss the biggest cuts to higher education funding in Australia's history.
On the chopping block is 5% to 12% of the $5.3 billion annual education budget. Also possible are a student loans scheme to replace Austudy and increases in up-front fees and HECS. In addition, the government has sought to derail the escalating campaign by the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) for a 15% pay claim.
The proposed cuts, coming after a decade of federal Labor's gradual reduction of funds in relation to increasing student numbers, have united a broad opposition. A vibrant campaign involving students, academics, general staff, vice-chancellors and unions has swung into action, supported by TAFE and high school students, and focused on the August 20 budget.
As part of a week of action organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) and student cross-campus committees, up to 10,000 students and staff demonstrated in Adelaide, Melbourne, Lismore, Wollongong and Hobart on May 22 and 23.
The 500-strong protest in Lismore was the largest ever rally of Southern Cross University students. In Hobart, one in five students at Tasmania University attended the 2000-strong march, making it the largest student protest since the 1980s.
Slash and burn
Graham Carter, president of the Student Representative Council at SCU, said, "After just two months in office, the Liberal government has blatantly revoked election pledges, displaying a slash and burn mentality with no consideration of the detrimental effects to the tertiary sector".
At SCU, a 10% funding cut would involve loss of 50 to 60 jobs, withdrawal from community projects, reduced library and science facilities and removal of two undergraduate programs and possibly two schools.
Other universities will be similarly affected. At the University of NSW, a cut of $24 million funding would mean loss of 620 academic and general staff jobs and closure of four small facilities or two large ones. At Wollongong University, a 12% cut would mean whole units and departments would collapse or be contracted out, the Learning Development Centre and library would be under threat, and about 150 jobs would go.
Regional and rural universities are likely to be hardest hit, putting an end to specialist courses and damaging whole communities. The vice-chancellor of New England University in Armidale said the country's eight regional universities would hold an emergency meeting to draw up a "concerted campaign of action" against cuts.
Having waged a large campaign against up-front fees in 1995, students are well prepared. Cross-campus committees are in action in most cities, coordinating actions against the cuts and increases in fees. The heads of all student organisations in NSW have agreed to oppose any increase in HECS, up-front fees, cuts to student places or moves to make Austudy a loans scheme.
The slogan "Stop the razor gang! No cuts to education, health or welfare" has been used to show that cuts to education are part of the Liberals' overall anti-people and pro-big business agenda. The Liberals plan to slash unemployment benefits without creating jobs, open more uranium mines, cut health care services and sack large numbers from the public service.
NTEU pay claim
Important in the alliance is support for the NTEU's 15% pay claim. A national strike organised by the NTEU will take place on May 30, supported by students.
In NSW, the NTEU, Community and Public Sector Union, NUS and Health Services Union of Australia make up a combined student and staff campaign against the funding cuts, demanding salary justice for university staff, quality education and access for all.
Nick Sellers, industrial organiser of the NTEU branch at ANU in Canberra, said, "The NTEU campaign involves a national week of action between the 27th and 31st of May, including a national strike day and mass rallies focusing on DEETYA. This is not to target DEETYA staff; they have often been quite supportive of our actions. However ... DEETYA is the national body which represents this area. We want students and unions to have their views known."
"The NTEU has also been involved in the forming of a coalition with the AVCC [Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee], NUS and CAPA [Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations]", said Sellers. "Its role is that of a lobby group to present the education system as a system in crisis. It has been stretched as far as it can be. The coalition can attempt to limit the Liberals' ability to pit university against university and divide the different groups involved."
Staff are not asking that their pay increases come from students' pockets, but they will come under pressure to accept an increase in student fees if they want their pay claim funded.
TAFE students
The TAFE sector has also come behind the campaign against cuts. Maurice Sibelle, coordinator of the Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network, said, "VTSAN is supporting the campaign against higher education cutbacks because these cutbacks are the first step on the road to cutbacks in TAFE.
"Several Victorian TAFE share facilities, staff conditions and general environment with universities, such as RMIT. Therefore cuts to the unis are going to have a direct impact on TAFE students and staff."
Sibelle continued, "The government says it's committed to maintaining current funding levels to TAFE, but funding will not keep up with the increase in enrolments, resulting in an increase in up-front fees and charges.
"At the moment, Victorian TAFE students pay an average of $500 a year up front for their course, plus student services and amenities fees. 'Hidden' fees, such as for course materials, are already increasing."
High schools
High school students will also be affected by the cuts. NUS is planning to extend its information campaign on the cuts to high school students.
Paul Howes, Blaxland high school student and member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance, which is campaigning against the cuts, said that many students would not be able to go to university at all if up-front fees and HECS were increased and Austudy reduced. This would force many straight onto the dole queue.
While the government claims it is addressing this situation, it has already proposed a scheme that will force young people into wages below the poverty line.
Sibelle commented, "VTSAN has begun a campaign around youth wages that will focus on the government's plan to allow employers to pay apprentices only for the time they work and not for the time they study. It basically discharges employers from their responsibility to train their employees and means apprentices will get even lower wages."
Broad alliance
The NUS national education officer, David Taylor, said, "NUS will be participating in a joint press conference on May 27 with the NTEU and AVCC. This is the widest sectoral alliance we have seen in opposition to funding cuts for some time. At the same time ... there are still significant disagreements between these groups over the best way forward for education in Australia."
One of the points of disagreement is over increases in HECS and student fees. While the AVCC has come out strongly against funding cuts, universities are not opposed to increasing student fees and HECS.
In 1994, for example, students at ANU fought a strong campaign, including a 10-day occupation of the Chancellery building, to prevent the VC (who sits on the board of the AVCC) from introducing an up-front fee for law students. The VC of Melbourne University has already called for consideration of a graduate tax and tax deductions for industry funding of universities.
Universities have also focused on how a fall in the quality of higher education due to funding cuts would threaten Australia's $2 billion international education market. Australia is currently the leading destination for students from Indonesia and second to the US in most south-east and east Asian countries. The UNSW annual report shows that fees from overseas students provides more income to that university than revenue collected from HECS.
In contrast, the students have traditionally opposed up-front fees for overseas students, defending the right of all students — whether rich or poor — to study at Australian universities. Students have also viewed overseas student fees as the thin edge of the wedge for what Australian students can expect, and have been proven correct.
Budget actions
The alliance against cuts has helped to unite students and staff and drawn large numbers onto the streets. In addition, more students have been getting involved in cross-campus organising committees than for some time.
Various student groups are floating the idea of a pre-budget rally on August 16. While the student sector would focus on cuts to education, the action would seek to link up with all sectors affected by budget cuts, such as the public service. An action before the budget will put maximum pressure on the government.
As well as the possibility of a pre-budget rally, David Taylor said, "The National Union of Students has planned a National Day of Action on August 29, nine days after the budget, to protest against expected cuts".
While the Coalition may believe that profit should come before people and quality accessible education, thousands disagree. All indications are that the size and militancy of the protests will escalate.