Australia’s government can veto universities’ overseas partnerships on vague “national interest” grounds, and the secret service can conduct undisclosed investigations of university activities, under legislative changes that have been rushed through federal parliament.
The amendments to the Foreign Relations Act also extend the government’s veto powers not only to universities’ offshore activities, but also to “researcher-to researcher” collaborations organised without universities’ authorisation.
The legislation, introduced into parliament in early July, was one of 15 bills approved on 20 August before parliament rose for a fortnight. A week earlier, the Australian Greens had attempted to refer the amendments for scrutiny by a Senate committee, but the governing Labor Party and opposition coalition had combined to block the motion.
The bill has separately been investigated by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS), which consists only of Labor and coalition MPs. The PJCIS conducts policy reviews but, unlike Senate committees, it does not forensically examine legislation. Its inquiry attracted just 11 submissions and its sole public hearing lasted just 90 minutes.
