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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 2. 1966.

[introduction]

University of Queensland staff and students [unclear: nts] attack Government legislation.

At the present time the University of Queensland Staff Association is mounting a determined campaign against a number of features of the recently passed University of Queensland Act.1

THE following are the features of the act that are objectionable to the staff association:

• Inadequate provision for representation on the University Senate2 by the staff association. (The act provides for one representative; the staff association recommended provision for three.)

• Inadequate provision for representation on the University Senate by the Professorial Board. (The act provides for the president and one other board member; the staff association recommended provision for the president and three other board members.)

• The restriction to two on the number of university teachers amongst the 10 Senators elected by convocation.3

• The restriction to three on the number of other teachers amongst the 10 Senators elected by convocation.

• The provision for direct representation on the Senate of religious bodies. (The Roman Catholic and Anglican Archbishops or their nominees, one nominee of the Queensland council of churches have seats.)

• The provision that neither of the two co-opted Senators should be university teachers.

• The provision that the appointment, by the Senate, of the Vice-Chancellor and of Deputy Vice-Chancellors should be subject to Government approval.

• The deletion of section 29 of the old act which forbids the administration of any religious test to any member or prospective member of the university.

• The deletion of section 30 of the old act which guarantees equal rights to women.

Before commenting on the above it is worthwhile to consider briefly the events leading up to the passing of the act.

Firstly the start association through its representatives made repeated efforts to see the Minister for Education in order that they might put to the Minister the association's submissions on the constitution of the Senate and discuss with him the reasons behind those submissions.

The Minister (Mr. Pizzey) refused to see the representatives of the staff association and it is clear that the association's written submissions were neither presented to the Parliament, nor considered seriously by the Minister.