The Sydney Morning Herald reported on April 11 that some of Australia’s top universities have recently hired an expert on Chinese politics and the consulting firm he works for to help identify risks of foreign interference, including vetting academics at at at least one institution for secret side projects.
The University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, Monash University and the University of Queensland have all hired John Garnaut, a former journalist and government consultant, through consulting firm McGrathNicol, in a move designed to reassure the Australian government that they are taking the issue of foreign interference on their campuses seriously, according to the report. The universities’ move to hire Ghosi follows the introduction of the Australian government’s Foreign Influence Transparency Register, which requires people serving in Australia for foreign countries to declare their activities. This policy was officially implemented on Dec. 10, 2018. Australia’s education minister also rejected several related academic grants last year on security grounds.
Ghosh was formerly the China correspondent and Asia-Pacific editor for Fairfax Media Group Australia, which is owned by the Sydney Morning Herald. He also served as a senior adviser to former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and as chief (international) adviser to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, where he was involved in leading the Australian government’s analysis and policy response to authoritarian regime interference between 2016 and 2017. Western countries, including Australia, are increasingly concerned that the Chinese government is using academic talent programs to acquire intellectual property that can be used for military purposes, the report said. However, some academics argue that this creates an atmosphere that stifles legitimate international cooperation and has little security impact.
Liberal Senator James Paterson, chairman of the Australian Federal Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, welcomed the hiring of Gao Anxi by the institution in question as a sign that the university is taking the issue seriously. “I’ll be watching with interest to see how successful they are in implementing John’s recommendations,” he said. Koansy himself declined to comment, but provided testimony he gave while attending closed-door hearings of the Paterson Commission. He said most Australian universities have quickly begun to build resilience against foreign interference.
They’ve done it through different pathways, at different speeds and from different starting points,” Koansy said at the time. If we had published this testimony three years ago, or even six months ago, it would have been very different. There’s still a long way to go, but the shift in approach has been far-reaching.” His colleague at McGrathNicol Consulting, Matt Fehon, said the firm’s work recognizes the importance of international research collaborations while managing risk and helping universities assess conflicts of interest.
A spokesman for the University of Sydney noted that its international engagement is critical to supporting educational, research and business collaborations with other universities, including in China. But he added that the university remains conscious of increasingly complex security threats. “We take these risks seriously and work diligently to identify and manage the associated risks in an ever-changing legal and operational environment,” the spokesman said. A Monash spokeswoman said the university has contracted a specialist anti-foreign interference team from McGrathNicol, which includes help from Koansi, since the Australian government released new guidelines in 2019.
While Monash University still values and works with international partners, the spokesperson said parts of the Australian university security regime make it more difficult for potential overseas partners. “The process of entering into formal collaboration agreements with global prospects is now very complex and presents additional risks from the perspective of any institutional partner, as the legislation gives the minister unfettered discretion to cancel the agreement at any time,” she said.
Sophie Loy-Wilson, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney who specializes in Australian-Chinese history, told the newspaper that concerns about foreign interference had led to an opaque system of control that deterred academics like her from working with their Chinese counterparts. I’m angry that what I’ve dedicated my life to, which is trying to understand the relationship between Australians and the Chinese people, is now being hampered,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the University of Queensland said the university had completed a three-year set of works to update its policies and add disclosure requirements, which would require staff to complete registers disclosing other paid employment, sensitive technical work or anything else required by the influence register. “As part of this program, the University of Queensland commissioned McGrathNicol Consulting to conduct an external audit to assist the University in ensuring that secondary paid employment has been fully disclosed,” the spokesperson said.
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