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confirmation of this fact, as now, the ANU, at least in it's capacity as Australia's leading

institution on international relations and Australian politics, is now further ingratiated upon

the knee of the parents for whom it is it's democratic duty to hold accountable.

So what is the NIPP? Firstly it will house the Australian Centre on China in the World,

the National Security College (NSC) and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, with the express aim of drawing more public servants to the ANU for further 

tertiary education.3 From the ANU's business perspective, in view of the unveiling of the

the Excellence in Research for Australia Initiative (ERA), this translates to a even more

profound emphasis on servicing the Australian Public Service (APS) whilst satisfying the

government's new audit program in order to obtain a greater slice of the financial pie. In

terms of international relations, it represents the continuance of Australia's national

security (agoraphobia induced) paranoia of shifting power trends in South East Asia.

In domestic political strategy though, the signs are even more worrying. Indeed, let usrecall for a moment the wisdom of Sun Tzu's on espionage; "[i]n the whole army, none

should be closer to the commander than his spies, none more highly rewarded, none more

confidentially treated."4 The establishment of the NIPP within the boundaries of the ANU is

tantamount to subversive espionage, with the caveat that the "spies" introduced in this

instance, are not lowly messengers or foot soldiers, but key lieutenants and generals. This

is unfortunately not unfounded hyperbole, the NSC stands testament to this strategy. If we

take a glance at the available positions section of the NSC's website for the positions of 

Deputy Director Executive and Professional Development, Deputy Director Academic,

Outreach and Research, Manager Development Courses and Lecturer National Security

Studies we note this particularly worrying caveat;

All applicants for these secondments will be expected to have a broad background in nationalsecurity departments, and must be currently employed under the Public Service Act 1999 or similar, such as the Defence Act 1903 or Australian Federal Police Act 1979. All applicants musthave, or be able to gain, an Australian Government security clearance to at least Secret level.

Applications must be accompanied by a covering letter, from a suitable person in thecandidate's agency, stating that the relevant department/agency will be supportive of asecondment arrangement. Applications without such a letter will not be considered. The terms of the secondment arrangement will be negotiated at the time of appointment, but these conditionswill include an offer from the College to reimburse the relevant department or agency for thepayroll costs of successful candidates.5

So, not only will the NSC focus exclusively on post-graduate education, but key positions

within the department are to be filled by public servants, who will not only seemingly retain

their APS salary, but these positions are solely for public servants. Add to this the fact that

the NSC's director is Professor Michael L'Estrange, appointed as Secretary to the Cabinet

by John Howard from 1996-2000 after which he took up the position of High Commissioner 

to the United Kingdom until 2005. Lets finally consider the aims of the NSC "[to] contribute

to the development of a new generation of strategic analysts; and achieve effectiveoutreach to business and the wider community."6

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From which graduates of the program should have:

"a clearer sense of their role in the broader national security community and the importance of ongoing engagement; an enhanced capacity to lead or contribute to collaborative strategydevelopment within government, and to build networks of cooperation with areas of nationalsecurity expertise outside government."7

Suddenly, one of the key departments in the NIPP, the NSC, seems more-so an extension

of the APS than an independent policy institute. But then again, it's not meant to be.

Within the modern university, the battle being fought is not merely one of money and

power, but of subservience to money and power through academic culture. This is the

essential dimension of the strategy, and indeed, possibly the most subtle and insidious. In

establishing an institution within the bounds of the ANU, servicing the government and

serviced by the government, power protects the cultures that establish power. It is here

that we must recall possibly the most famous of Sun Tzu's analects: "[u]ltimate excellencelies not in winning every battle, but in defeat the enemy without ever fighting."8

The academic cultures which resonate across the world today are reminiscent of 

corporate reptiles whom with each passing year gradually shed their vestiges of humanity

in view of something more tangibly calculable. It is lauded as processes of accountability,

productivity, responsibility, fiscal security and most importantly in terms of relevance.

Relevance is the critical term behind all these rational obfuscations when it comes to

cultural practices. Throughout history, the determining of relevance functions to preclude,

exclude and define that which is, that which can, that which should, that which is not,cannot, should not and therefrom will and will not. Adorno and Horkheimer were trenchant

in their critique of such delimiting practices wherein "[t]hinking objectifies itself to become

an automatic, self-activating process; an impersonation of the machine that it produces

itself so that ultimately the machine can replace it."9

The key issue is against what system of values is the relevance of academia to be

worthy of support or un-worthy of support via the university and the government? Again,

this is not hyperbole, Ian Chubb has admitted this already as the NIPP's purpose is to

"conduct research relevant to the public policy priorities of the government."10

It is clear that we face a contestation of academic cultures. In view of the declaration of 

the NIPP, it is also clear that the system of values against which academia is deemed to

be relevant and "good"s one which accedes independent freedom and therein ethical

responsibility to the commands of structural authority and power. The culture ingratiated

and imposed by such institutions as the NIPP is one of obeisance, of truth only if and when

power deems truth to be necessary  to the operations of good policy. Furthermore, it

enables power to add another dimension of faux legitimacy before the media and other 

institutions. From now on government can indicate publicly to the institute and declare

them as independent assessments of truth concerning a host of issues and power will

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legitimate power. But such strategies on behalf of the government are deemed necessary

to naturalize future generations to the climates of academia subservient to power. In view

of this, the NIPP represents not collaboration, as claimed by Ian Chubb, but co-option.

What Kevin Rudd's announcement on May 8th represents is not a step towards an

intellectually proactive academic community striving to reform and enhance foreign

strategic policy or public policy, but a decisive step away.

And indeed, strategically, the NIPP is a masterstroke. The Rudd government has not

merely successfully struck a blow against the virtues of intellectual freedom and ethical

responsibility of the ANU, but they've done it without a shot fired, and to rapturous

applause.

References.

1   Dewey, J. as cited in Wilshire, B., The Moral Collapse of the University: Professionalism, Purity, andAlienation, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990, p. 199.

2 Jackson, C. 'ANU to establish $111.7m public policy precinct', ANU News, May 8th 2010, available onlineat; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=2137 . Last accessed 29 May 2010.

3 Ibid.

4  Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Minford, J. Camberwell, Victoria: Penguin Books, 2009, p. 92; hereafter cited as Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

5 'Positions available', The National Security College, available online at; http://nsc.anu.edu.au/jobs.php .

Last accessed 29 May 2010. 

6   'National Security College', The National Security College, available online at; http://nsc.edu.au/ . Lastaccessed 29 May 2010.

7 Ibid.

8 Sun Tzu, The Art of war, p. 14.

9 Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. The Dialectic of Enlightenment, London: Verso, 2008, p. 25.

10   Chubb, I. as qouted in, Slattery, J. 'Australian National University to get extra $111m funding', The

Australian, available online at; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/australian-national-university-to-get-extra-111m-funding/story-e6frgcjx-1225865192613 . Last accessed on 29 May 2010.