Former foreign minister Julie Bishop steps down as finance minister, and the Australian National University (ANU) appoints pro-chancellor Dr. Larry Marshall to lead until a permanent appointment is made independently.
Former foreign minister steps down early as finance minister Katy Gallagher says embattled institution must continue ‘ rebuilding trust and confidence ’Bishop tendered her resignation yesterday evening, a spokesperson for ANU said.
The university’s council has agreed that pro-chancellor, Dr Larry Marshall, will act in her role until a permanent appointment is made independently, in line with recommendations from the university regulator.
“In her eight years in the role and through her advocacy, the Hon. Julie Bishop has raised the University’s profile domestically and internationally and strengthened global connections, including during the COVID pandemic,” the spokesperson said in a statement, thanking her for her contributions.
“The Council is committed to providing a new period of strong and positive governance and leadership … restoring the University’s reputation with our community. ” The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said in a statement on Friday morning that the embattled institution would need to continue “rebuilding trust and confidence”.
“The challenges facing ANU did not arise overnight, and rebuilding trust and confidence across the university community will take time and careful work,” Gallagher said. “I have consistently said the university leadership and Council need to work openly and constructively with staff, students and the broader community to rebuild confidence and agree on a path forward.
In a statement on Friday, Pocock said ANU was founded 80 years ago “as a beacon of hope, of working together and striving for better as a country”.
“After an incredibly difficult few years, now is the time to recommit to that mission, that optimism and that vision for what the ANU can be,” he said. “We’ve seen dozens of Professors, Emeriti and Alumni put their name to letters over the years, and as recently as this week, demanding better governance of our national university … The bravery of all these people, backed by the support of our broader community, has forced ANU leaders to take responsibility for these governance and leadership failures,” he said.
Pocock said “a number of processes”, including a review by the higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency , were ongoing.
“The voluntary undertaking to conduct an independent process to appoint the next Chancellor is very welcome and will hopefully help rebuild trust, confidence and better governance at our national university,” he said. Bishop’s resignation comes less than a year after the exit of ANU’s vice-chancellor, Prof Genevieve Bell, and continues a tumultuous three years for the institution marred by redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture.
Labor senator Tony Sheldon was among the former foreign minister’s critics, pointing to “sweeping restructures … rising dissatisfaction among students and staff” and a failure to “provide transparency around serious governance concerns” during her tenure.under the leadership of the interim vice-chancellor, provost Rebekah Brown. At least 399 redundancies have been taken since the restructure began in 2024.
At the time of Bell’s resignation, Bishop said there were “no grounds” for her to step aside and she had the full backing of council to continue her tenure until 2026.
“The university’s financial situation … began a very long time ago,” she said at a press conference in September. “We’re not the only university that has found itself in this kind of difficulty. ” ANU remains under scrutiny, with TEQSA reviewing its governance, financial sustainability and institutional culture.
The National Tertiary Education Union and National Union of Students welcomed the development, with the ACT’s NTEU division secretary, Dr Lachlan Clohesy, describing it as a “chance for calm and stability”.
“Now that the fire has been put out, we’ll wait and see if the forthcoming TEQSA report will tell us how it started,” he said. “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.
” ACT branch president of the NUS, Leila Clarke, said “considerable damage” had been done to the university during Bishop’s tenure, pointing to the restructure process which had caused “massive instability …. the loss of world-class academics, cuts to courses … and the decline of the quality of ANU as a whole”.
Julie Bishop ANU Pro-Chancellor Finance Minister Rebuilding Trust And Confidence
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