When Pavlou's term begins next year on the Senate – a body that expects its members to "exercise a duty of confidence" – he vows to expose what he regards as the university's craven capitulation to Chinese Communist Party interests in return for a supply of full-fee-paying foreign students.

"I'm not there to network and have the nice lobster dinners with the top end of town, old establishment types and company directors," he says.

"The most important thing when you uncover corrupt and unethical behaviour is to shine a light on it. I will continue to be public in all my activism."

Legal action

Pavlou should probably be taken at his word. He has taken legal action against China's consul-general in Brisbane under the state's Peace and Good Behaviour Act for allegedly threatening him. A court date is scheduled for November 22. He asked the university to allocate his $50,000 Senate fee to Amnesty International for the repressed Uighur in northern China. When it refused, he claimed it was an attempt to prevent funding of human rights in China - even though there is nothing stopping him giving the money to Amnesty himself.

University of Queensland vice-chancellor Peter Høj. Glenn Hunt

"I’m going to continue smashing UQ for allying itself with blood-drenched regimes like the CCP," he tweeted on October 24. "Good luck trying to turn me into an apolitical company director."

Managing his passionate young colleague will test the considerable diplomatic skills of Varghese, a former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.


Pavlou, who hopes to pursue a PhD in politics or philosophy, is already accusing the university of victimisation.

He says he has been notified that he is under investigation by the academic registrar, and his enrolment is at threat, for "bullying" the vice-chancellor during the Senate election campaign by calling for his removal, an allegation so outrageous that it may not be true.

"We are not aware of any complaints from senior staff," about election bullying, a university spokeswoman says.

Putting aside the student's refusal to accept the behavioural norms of institutional management, Pavlou is the human manifestation of an extraordinarily delicate balance Australian universities have to strike between their financial interests and social and intellectual responsibilities.

Peter Varghese, chancellor of the University of Queensland. Eamon Gallagher

Foreign students have transformed campus life and economics over the past two decades. They have also strained academic standards and challenged the campus tradition of hostility to despotic regimes.

At the University of Queensland, apart from a few scuffles between pro and anti-Beijing students, the most sensitive Chinese-related question is the existence of a Confucius Institute.


Pavlou and others want it closed down. Funded by the Chinese state, the 13-odd Confucius Institutes at Australian universities have been portrayed as Chinese Communist Party propaganda arms subverting independent syllabuses.

The truth appears to be more nuanced. Without wishing to be named because of the sensitivity of the debate, a leader of one education union this week said the institutes provided valuable resources and expertise to help Australians understand a complex society.

"The education and training of Chinese language and culture is a good thing," she said. "We want it to be transparent with no ethical issues. But to say they are terrible is not the right answer. But neither does that mean unvetted support."

The NSW government recently decided to cancel a Confucius program that taught children Chinese, citing problems of perception, not substance.

In a country suffering angst about its reliance on mineral and energy exports, the $32 billion annual economic contribution from the sale of education to foreigners is an important industry that needs to be safeguarded.

At the same time, even if the threats to Pavlou's academic career are exaggerated, his blunt condemnation of repression in Hong Kong and the pro-Beijing sentiment among Chinese students on campus are a right as worthy of defence as the current press freedom campaign by Australian media outlets.

If events in Hong Kong spiral out of control, and communist dictatorships' history suggests violence is not unlikely, the emotional response in Australia is likely to be centred on campus.

At the University of Queensland, Drew Pavlou will say, "I told you so".

Until then, he will help keep the university honest and make those Senate lunches more interesting.