A row about funding for third-level institutions erupted in the federal parliament in Australia last week. A Senate inquiry into higher education was scheduled to take place next month - however, the matter was raised prematurely when Labour Senator Kim Carr alleged that funding cuts and commercialisation are pushing universities to act beyond the bounds of propriety. Australian Prime Minister John Howard demanded that Carr should "put up or shut up" and present evidence to support his claims.

Carr raised the matter of an investigation at the University of Melbourne two years ago reported by Melbourne newspaper, The Age, into whether members of the academic staff raised marks for a pupil, Paul Marks, after Marks promised donations and consultancies to the value of 2 million Australian dollars.

The university says a full investigation was carried out at the time and no evidence of staff impropriety was been discovered.