“For the usually calm, measured senator, this is a surprisingly emotional eruption. Was it an ‘election outburst’? Not so! There are real justifications,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE. 

Senator David Pocock has taken an angry swipe at the hierarchy of the Australian National University. 

The strident nature of this furious outburst is out of character. For the usually calm, measured senator, this is a surprisingly emotional eruption. Was it an “election outburst”? Not so! There are real justifications.

The ANU is going through a major restructure. The management of the reforms has many of its staff offside. No doubt, the significant financial strains that it faces are a leading cause of the dissatisfaction. However, all universities in Australia are facing similar challenges. 

Exacerbating these challenges are likely funding cuts for projects that have had support from the US. These are also under scrutiny. Research that is not in line with the goals of the Trump administration is at high risk. This is likely to intensify the financial problems faced by ANU and other universities. 

The senator has directed his vitriolic attack at the leadership of the ANU rather than at the university and its staff. He points out that “people across Canberra and across the country take immense pride in our national university”.

He argues that he “has gone into bat” for the ANU when legislation was likely to bring adverse outcomes for the university. As an aside, an interesting cricket analogy from such a prominent rugby player. An example he gives is “pushing for things like a National Student Ombudsman to enhance student safety on campus”.

Since raising the issue, he has been regularly stopped in the street by ANU staff who support his stance. The senator and his office have also been taken by surprise by the number and intensity of messages expressing concern. These are “broadly about the leadership of the ANU, especially in terms of how they are responding to these financial challenges and handling the restructuring of the university”.

A nail in the coffin of the ANU leadership for Senator Pocock was when the chief operating officer Jonathan Churchill and the vice-chancellor Prof Genevieve Bell appeared before a Senate estimates committee.

The accusation by the senator is that they misled him and the committee when answering questions about the amount of money spent on consultants.

The financial constraints at the ANU have had considerable impact on all staff. Transparency regarding money spent on consultants is in the interest of the university and of the broader community. Claiming an expenditure of “circa $50,000 so far this year” on a consultant group would seem acceptable. And that was the answer given to him in estimates hearings in early November.

Subsequently, it has come to light that the contract with the Nous Group was for $837,000. This is nearly a 17-fold increase in what the senator was told. Later, the value of the contract was increased twice – leading to an expenditure of “$1,127,000 excluding travel and expenses”. 

No wonder Senator Pocock is angry. 

“My job as senator for the ACT is to represent the views of our community, and I think it is very clear that the community has lost confidence in the ANU leadership,” he said.

“I am appalled that the leadership of Australia’s National University appears to have shown such contempt for the Senate estimates process, seems to have misled me as a senator for the ACT and, more importantly, seems to have misled and sought to hide key information from our community”.

Senator Pocock outlines a range of concerns about the handling of cuts at the ANU. Some examples cited include “the extraordinarily poor way in which the proposed closure of community led childcare centres on campus was handled”. He also points to “the closure of the on-campus medical centre” and a “culture of fear” amongst staff.

The public devaluing of staff by Chancellor Julie Bishop has also riled him. She told The Canberra Times that many members of the ANU staff “have been part of the inefficiencies that the university is now seeking to address”.

The nub of the issue is, as Senator Pocock says, that “this change management process has been so poorly managed, while also spending more than a million dollars on consultants to manage it, is a serious issue and ANU staff and the broader community deserve answers”.

Senator Pocock has written to the vice-chancellor seeking an explanation. He says: “Based on the feedback I’ve received, things need to change”.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.