Page 2053 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 June 2015
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term financial problems and for ideological reasons that it was not the university’s core business to be an owner of real estate. The ANU was to find a decade later, after the proceeds for the sale of the property were gone, that one of the major factors limiting the university’s ability to attract students was the lack of affordable housing. It then had to seek additional funds to build new student housing.
We would not want people to look back at this point in history in 30 or 50 years time and say it was a shame the University of Canberra allowed private residential and commercial development on its land, with the proceeds now spent and future land use options compromised. It is essential that a significant portion of the proceeds from development are retained in a fund that benefits the university long into the future. I have been briefed by the vice-chancellor and members of the university council, and I look forward to discussing these issues further and monitoring how these funds are utilised. I understand it is the university’s intention that the funds raised from developments will be directed to the university foundation to access scholarships and investment in research and development.
The flow of funds will be reported in annual reports, and the effectiveness of expenditure of funds should be critically assessed at the five-yearly review point to ensure maximum benefit is being derived for both the university and the territory. We must ensure this is not a one-off and that funds that are put into things like the university foundation and research development are used as an investment that will continue to benefit the university over an extended period of time for what might be considered a one-off use of the land.
The university will have the power to enter into contracts with third parties in order to commercially exploit and develop its property for the university’s benefit. That is one of the clear outcomes of this legislation. While this is of obvious benefit to the university as it seeks to undertake ambitious co-investment models and provides greater certainty to those anticipated investors, I believe there is still a public benefit consideration that may need further articulation. The ACT government operates its business under an ethical investment framework. While the university will be acting as a natural person in many regards from here on in, it is still a body that has legislative ties with the government. Therefore I believe the university needs to adopt an ethical investment framework that matches that of the ACT government and ensures those partnerships the university enters into, the investments it makes with the endowment it will receive from the use of its land are used in a way that meets the expectation of its students, its stakeholders, and the broader ACT community, including the ACT government.
That is an issue I have flagged with the university and I will continue to engage with them on it. It is widely recognised around the world that universities are leaders in this sort of space. In the United States particularly we see universities there at the absolute forefront of ethical investment, and I think we would all expect our universities in Australia to be in that same place.
Another area I believe should be subject to further development is all-round excellence in sustainability when it comes to the developments that will take place on campus. Measurable performance indicators and a review process should be defined
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