Budget watchers are hoping for a quiet night next Tuesday, on the assumption that given the government’s current attitude towards universities no news is good news. “There may be some more money for individual universities along the lines of local deals done with Southern Cross, Sunshine Coast unis and UTas but no one is expecting anything across the system,” one close observer says. However there is talk of money for applied research as part of an innovation spend designed to muffle the howls that will greet all but announced cuts to the research and development tax concession. But overall a quiet night is expected, there isn’t even a lock-up for education policy people.