Universities are not top of the pops with the government so perhaps it pained Minister Birmingham to have to announce funding for them – handing out block grants on December 22 was not a way to attract attention. Unless he did not want to draw attention to distributing $1.9bn in research training and support in a week when he was suggesting the sector had never had it so good.

Unless of course, he just could not want to hear an it’s-unfair-athon from the 34 universities which will share 37 per cent of the money. The Group of Eight gets the rest. UniMelb leads with $197m, followed by UoQ- $187m, UniSydney-$185, Monash U-$170m, UNSW-$169m, ANU-$120m, UWA-$94m and Adelaide $88m.