Professor tag 'wasted on pollies', says Phil Honeywood
Former politicians appointed to often honorary roles in universities should not be given the title of professor because it undermines the long struggle and hard work of real academics, a former senior politician says.
A list compiled by the HES reveals that almost all such appointments are to former Labor politicians. Whether this is due to a "natural companionship" with Left-leaning academics or whether former Liberal politicians are shunned by the academy is open for debate, said Geoff Gallop, former ALP premier of Western Australia and now director of the Graduate School of Government at the University of Sydney.
"Maybe conservative politicians feel universities wouldn't welcome them. Or maybe they are more interested in making money by sitting on corporate boards. I don't know the answer. There could be prejudice on both sides," Professor Gallop said.
University of Queensland economist and political commentator John Quiggin agreed. "There's a whole new business in post-political careers. They used to be older when they left politics and just retired," Professor Quiggin said. "Now they are becoming politicians before they have a real job and are much younger when they leave. But my experience is that most of these roles are honorary positions; a university is a convenient place to park themselves after parliament".
