The decision of La Trobe University to sack two fine regional educators in Ian Tulloch and Dr Ardel Shamsullah and end the regionally based teaching of politics in this state is puzzling.
There is an expectation that a university would be a place of superior thought, somewhere where consideration would be given to the impact of each decision, and where superior intellects would be bought to bear on the consequences of given action.
Clearly in this case this has not happened.
If the decision makers had taken note of the sector leading research by La Trobe Bendigo’s own Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities headed by the excellent Professor John Martin, a leader in this field, they would surely have understood the folly of this proposition and not taken such a short sighted and damaging decision.
There are two relevant facts that must be dealt with:
1. It has been proven that students that study in the regions are more likely to stay in the regions.
2. Overall regional Victoria is losing population and with that it is losing its political voice as electoral redistributions trim our representation in Canberra and Melbourne.
You need only consider that the upper house seat of Northern Victoria covers 48 per cent of the state and elects just five out of 40 MLC’s to see that writ large.
The decision to axe this course will, based on La Trobes own research, reduce the political capacity of our region over time.
It will do that as our population thins and our needs to have a more sophisticated understanding of the Australian political system rises to allow our voice, concerns and needs to be heard.
There is a saying ‘if you are not at the table you are on the menu’ and in this case if this decision stands our goose will be cooked and we will be the main course.
Any argument that somehow students can get a comparable experience from something emanating from Bundoora is specious.
This is an attack on the future capacity of regional Victoria to be a viable player in Australian political discourse.
I would urge all of you who are involved in business or with your communities to contact La Trobe and tell them this can not stand, that regional Victoria will not allow them to play a part in disenfranchising us.
Let them know how vital it is we have a political base which understands the way the system was designed, how it actually works and how we can successfully interact with it.
Yet again the future of the regions are being treated with scant regard by Melbourne based decision makers, once again the regions must fight to make them understand the damage they are doing and as ever we can’t afford to fail.
