Der readership, that includes, you, you and you.
The ex Adelaide Uni Vice….. clearly didn’t know that being close was way too close!!But knew a bit about VICE.
Just in case you hadn’t been reading the news lately, the recently booted Vice Chancellor of Adelaide Uni was on a paltry 500 k salary. How he got the job after been done for fiddling in Tassie is beyond us, but speaks volumes for due diligence on higher-end executive recruitment. Don’t blame it all on RIO. For this he also received entitlements to spend several hundred thousand on overseas flights. Some of them may even have had something vaguely to do with education, the rest… a testament to ENTITLEMENT.
Entitlement aint all bad. It’s what makes Donald not feel guilty EVER about never paying tax. But for what its worth here’s a brief one on the man who sits at the top of the academic tree. He aint a Professor, or Vice Chancellor. He’s just a simple bloke who ensures that the ‘rivers of gold’ from overseas students is diverted via his pockets. Just as Angus does for the Murray Darling. It’s a demonstration of the ‘trickle-down effect’. And we should be all grateful. Like a Gas- Borne recovery, it’s about mates, and doing the right thing….. by….. (you guessed it)…… MATES!
Andy is the Highest paid Aussie CEO at 37 million. The Question is, why can’t he afford something better than a bar stool fer chrissakes!
Have you ever heard of Andrew Barkla?
It’s a bit like all the backbench MP’s most of them from the COAL (National) Party who’d managed to obtain upwards of fifteen investment properties whilst serving their constituencies.
You’d never heard of them. They’re meant to be in public life serving their constituencies. But instead, they’re maintaining a low profile, avoiding doing anything that might jeopardise their sinecure and they’re serving themselves.
Andrew is right up there with em. He’s turned the overseas students into “Rivers of Gold”.
It’s a win win, they get parachuted onto the courses that local kids cant get a leg in, and free access to the visa factory. Andrew becomes filthy rich. And we all get to pay for it.
Andy’s an education specialist. HIS BIG IDEA? Diverting education millions into his own pockets. If Donald does it to the U.S taxpayer, its fine by us if Andy has a go.
Bit like the Port of Darwin, Privatisation and the boon of private aged care. The shareholders are cock a hoop. It’s the free market rationale where the locals don’t get a look in. In betting terms the locals, (silly buggers who pay taxes) are MUGS!
Has this experiment in neo Liberalism done the University’s any good as bastions of free thinking? Has it led to incredible life affirming new research? Or has it just made one bloke and a conga line of sinecured Vice Chancellors and a few heads of departments filthy rich?
It’s Australia’s version of the Russian Kleptocrat.
There’s nothing illegal about it, but a bit like Barklas’ Salary…. IT STINKS!
Which begs the question; Who the hell is Andrew Barkla?
This fragment from the Guardian way back in 2018 pretty well sums it up;
Andy could take a few tips from Trev. He doesn’t even have to go to crappy conferences to get a payout from the feds.
‘Today is the day! Friday August 31 will go down as the greatest day of Andrew Barkla’s life. For the Chief Executive of IDP Education, there will be daylight then the birth of his children or something else lame.
Whatever what kind of mood his missus was in this morning, he will be the smuggest bloke ever seen at a breakfast table. And he has more than $39.7 million reasons to be so.
While the rest of us wait for the monthly mortgage interest to wipe out our cheque accounts and obsessively check the fluctuating balance of our super accounts, Barkla today will become the owner of 4.15 million shares in the listed international student broker, worth $11 a pop at Thursday’s close.
The former Education Minister loved ANDY. The current Education Minister is STOKED!
In one day, Barkla will receive a financial benefit greater than the 38 vice-chancellors of his shareholder universities are collectively paid in a year. What’s more, the issuance of these new shares will dilute them below their current 50.1 per cent of the register. But we’re sure the professors aren’t nutty about it!
While the tertiary sector bemoans the insecurity of academic tenure and the avaricious milking of Asian students, the chief milker himself need never worry for his security again’.
Since this artticle was writtem Andrew has gone from strength to strength. The Universities only understand one metric, the budget. And for Andrew, we hope he can retain his salary in spite of the dark cronona-cloud that is stemming the tide. There is hope though, cos sooner or later the tide will come in again.
Funny though, when Dawkins made every college of advanced education a uni, and time serving sinecurists suddenly were parachuted into professorial salaries, he wouldn’t have dreamed that the real beneficiary would be dear ol Andy. AN EDUCATION REVOLUTION!
Dream on.
“Pssst. For the best value in educational , environmental, or planning issues, come and see Angus. No questions asked, all enquiries are dealt with discretely. Just send blank cheque to Angus’s Cayman Island Investments PL and he’ll help you out. No Questions asked. Fast approval for donations beyond 10 K. Instant processing for those over 50K. Address cheques to ‘JAM-LAND’.