Statement from the Chancellor

Following a meeting of the Council today, Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AO QC released the following statement. ANU Council today fully discussed the proposed changes at the ANU School of Music. Council expressed its full support for the change process that has been set in train, acknowledging that on both academic and budgetary grounds, the present curriculum and staffing arrangements were unsustainable. Council was strongly of the view that The School of Music has been a wonderful resource not only for ANU, but for the Canberra community and indeed the whole nation, and that it was particularly important in this context that its performance teaching stream remained credible and viable. Council acknowledged that Canberra was clearly underdone in terms of support for music performance, especially for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, by comparison with other capitals. While the ANU was prepared to continue contributing significantly to meeting this need, it was crucial that the ACT and Federal Governments as well as the philanthropic community, all played their part. Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AO QC Chancellor, Australian National University