National Tertiary Education Union Media Release
The National Tertiary Education Union has declared ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop’s long-overdue resignation is a chance for the troubled university to heal.
Ms Bishop resigned on Thursday night after a litany of scandals engulfed the university in recent years.
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes:
“Julie Bishop falling on her sword is long overdue and closes one of the darkest chapters we’ve seen at any Australian university.
“Staff have suffered enormously during her disastrous reign. ANU was the canary in the coalmine for the toxic governance crisis that infected our universities.”
NTEU ACT Division Secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy:
“This is a chance for calm and stability. Union members have stood up to protect our national university.”
“Now that the fire has been put out, we’ll wait and see if the forthcoming TEQSA report will tell us how it started.”
“The former Chancellor has made two significant decisions which I support. The first was to accept the resignation of the former Vice-Chancellor, Genevieve Bell. The second was today.
“I’d like to salute the bravery of ANU staff, and Dr Liz Allen in particular.”
NTEU ANU Branch President Millan Pintos-Lopez:
“Today marks an opportunity for the ANU community to turn the page on Renew ANU.
“Our members have been calling for accountability and change for the past 18 months, and this announcement will bring relief to many staff.”
Keep Independent Journalism Alive – Support The AIMN
Dear Reader,
Since 2013, The Australian Independent Media Network has been a fearless voice for truth, giving public interest journalists a platform to hold power to account. From expert analysis on national and global events to uncovering issues that matter to you, we’re here because of your support.
Running an independent site isn’t cheap, and rising costs mean we need you now more than ever. Your donation – big or small – keeps our servers humming, our writers digging, and our stories free for all.
Join our community of truth-seekers. Please consider donating now via:
PayPal or credit card – just click on the Donate button below
Direct bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
We’ve also set up a GoFundMe as a dedicated reserve fund to help secure the future of our site.
Your support will go directly toward covering essential costs like web hosting renewals and helping us bring new features to life. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us keep improving and growing.
Thank you for standing with us – we truly couldn’t do this without you.
With gratitude, The AIMN Team
I would have thought that a former politician who long served in right-wing conservative governments, as well as having been a former corporate lawyer who defended James Hardie when lawsuits were launched against that company on behalf of former employees now dying after contracting mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos fibres as a function of corporate negligence, a brief that earned her the sobriquet ‘Asbestos Julie,’ should have been, de facto, dismissed at the first round of considerations for the post of ANU chancellor.
But no, here in Australia, it’s as always the case of who you know, as much if not more than what you know. She was a disaster in that role at ANU. Good riddance, and time for healing at that troubled institution.
The scarlet starlet, miss Libby once, has gone and will be forgotten.., for imperious scowling, noisy, upyafront negativity, inaction, under achievement and endless undelivered “promise.” It’s singles bars now. I’ll have a schooner of insubstantial froth, 1999. Ta awfully.
I had to look up the role of a Chancellor in an Australian University :
“Unlike in the United States, an Australian Chancellor is usually a ceremonial and governance-focused role, distinct from the Vice-Chancellor, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and responsible for day-to-day operations”.
Was Julie Bishop not clear on her duties as Chancellor?
By contrast Bill Shorten is the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra. As the Vice-Chancellor he serves as the chief executive officer responsible for day-to-day operations and academic leadership.
I am sure everyone is thrilled she’s gone.
I always thought it was insane she was appointed chancellor of a university. On what merit?
She is a granite faced, split-ended chaos goblin.
Imagine having to work with her….vile.
The entire Tertiary Education system in Australia needs an overhaul IMO. When you have Vice-chancellors on million-dollar-+ salaries and senior Administrative and Educational staff drawing high-end 6-figure salaries, while sessional teaching staff are subjected to insecure employment, below-average working conditions, and wage-theft, not to mention the gutting of Administrative staff-numbers forcing Academics to spend hours of unpaid overtime doing paperwork, the advent of some political hack like Julie Bishop to the position of Chancellor of ANY Australian University is just another nail in the coffin of what was once a World-class Education system.
I want people running our Universities who care more about Education than they do about lining their own pockets.
Political fantasy meets private/public reality.
The poison of the last 30 years of LNP infection continues to leach into the public domain,whilst simultaneously fatally infecting the host.
My great-uncle was a Sydney University Chancellor back in the day when such roles were exclusively occupied by highly educated persons of proven integrity.
The concept of the Vice-Chancellor as ‘CEO’ – the thin edge of the wedge with respect to the independence of universities – was a sneaky little development that began decades ago.
Once governments become representatives of business as opposed to representing the people who elect them, there is not very far to go before full privatisation of the universities is achieved alongside everything that the loss of academic independence implies.
Who will take the lease on her palatial off-campus digs in W.A.? Will it be a fire-sale to accompany her wardrobe of stranded assets?
Sayonara koala.