If the government has campus security covered why does a minister want more power

Education Minister Alan Tudge took a question in Reps Question Time yesterday, from Celia Hammond (Lib-WA), (former VC of the University of Notre Dame Australia). Ms Hammond wanted to know how the government is “safeguarding Australians from foreign interference in our universities.”

Mr Tudge detailed the government’s various measures to protect campuses from bad intel actors. And very thorough he was too, which rather raises the question, why does Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton want further cyber security powers over universities infrastructure (CMM February 15).

Perhaps Minister Tudge’s answer was informal information for the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, of which Ms Hammond is a newly appointed member. The committee is inquiring into security risks affecting HE and the research sector.