ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

Hi everyone,

I spent last night at the Australian Studies Institute Visiting Fellows dinner, which was a lovely evening to meet with visiting academics to ANU and hear about their research and experiences on our campus and their experiences from around the world. Hosting academics from other institutions (from as far as the Australian Public Service and the University of Bologna!)  is one of the many ways we ensure our research and teaching is international, expansive and connected beyond ANU. With the dis-establishments and encroachment on US institutions unfolding on a nearly daily basis, it is now more critical to be a place that welcomes and supports academics, research and ideas that challenge the world around us. A thanks to Mark Kenny and his team for bringing these events together, especially in the same week as a packed live audience recording of Democracy Sausage in Kambri.

With the election only a few days away, our experts have been out across the community driving conversations about policy and the potential impact of election promises. Regardless of who ends up in Parliament, we will be looking forward to working with government and hosting critical conversations here on campus. I know there is uncertainty about what change of government, or change of balance in parliament, might mean for us and the broader sector. Whilst we know universities are contributing to the debates, universities are also becoming part of the debates, and it is a strange and distorting experience to see our campuses reflected publicly in ways we do not ourselves experience or recognise. These conversations are live and continuing to take shape and as I have further information or updates, I will share these with our community.

I also want to thank and acknowledge our staff who have contributed feedback to the Renew ANU 2025 Change Principles Consultation paper, and the Implementation Plan. As you will have noted in On Campus, following the conference session to resolve the dispute brought by the NTEU, the University has extended the feedback period for the Implementation Plan from 2 to 9 May 2025. If you haven’t yet reviewed the Implementation Plan, I encourage you to do so. I also want to thank Michael Lonergan, our CFO, for continuing to provide financial updates for our community. We have been releasing these annually, alongside the Annual Report, and Michael has confirmed he will provide quarterly updates for our community.

In some happy news, this last fortnight has also seen some of our ANU astronomy undergraduate and postgraduate students at Thredbo, hosting school holiday activities for members of the broader community in the evenings. This has included talks and stargazing, including for a time the highest telescopes in Australia at 1,900m and is a really unique offering for both our students and people outside of ANU to understand a little more of what we do and how we see and talk about the world.

Also, this fortnight we hosted former Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard and Leigh Sales for a conversation (and live podcast recording) in Llewellyn Hall. It was a good night for redheads and conversation (I’m sorry I missed it – I was out West on field work).  You’ll be able to listen to the podcast soon.

Good thoughts to where this may find you, hopefully somewhere drier and warmer than Tuesday!

G