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Articles on Dawkins reforms

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Robert Menzies established a ‘buffer body’ between government and universities. Shutterstock

Don’t just blame the Libs for treating universities harshly. Labor’s 1980s policies ushered in government interference

Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies insisted universities should have protection from political interference. But Bob Hawke’s education minister John Dawkins dismantled these protections.
The Dawkins reforms to higher education in 1989 saw the creation of HECS and arguably the biggest shake-up of higher education the country had seen - but how did it come about? AAP

Cabinet papers 1989: Hawke government considered interest on HECS

The release of the 1988-89 cabinet documents show that the Hawke government’s plans for Australian higher education were in some ways as radical as the policies that Education Minister Christopher Pyne…

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