Labor leader Peter Malinauskas backs Adelaide university mergers
Mergers between Adelaide’s three universities are backed in a Labor economic policy that effectively would compel amalgamations.
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Merger talks between Adelaide’s three universities would be triggered by a Labor government, which would effectively compel them to combine if deemed in the state interest.
In the Labor Opposition’s first major economic policy release, leader Peter Malinauskas says “the harsh truth is that each of our universities alone are too small and too undercapitalised to make it into the list of top international” institutions.
The “South Australian University Merger” policy says the Labor-driven path to an amalgamation will be charted by a commission headed by “an eminent commissioner with higher education experience” and the three university’s leaders.
Mr Malinauskas declares a university merger a first-term priority for a Labor government – if elected at the March 2022 poll.
“We believe that there is strong evidence and experience to suggest that a university merger in South Australia has the capacity to deliver outcomes for our state’s economy and the welfare of people. That’s our starting position,” he told The Advertiser.
University mergers have been regularly debated but not achieved – Adelaide and UniSA scuttled merger talks in 2018, jointly declaring they were “unable to reach agreement on the threshold issues and strategic risks”.
Mr Malinauskas pointedly highlighted that the three Adelaide-based public universities were established under Acts of State Parliament, declaring them “central to the state economy and an incredibly powerful social lever for the betterment of future generations”.
“We think that a merger that is in the interests of the sector and the state, we would hope that if an independent commission that the universities had played a role in had agreed that this was a good idea, that would spell the end of any recalcitrance,” he said.
“I want to be clear and resolute about this – the (Labor) state government would seek to actively pursue it to achieve the policy objectives and I would be assertive in that regard.”
In the Labor policy, Mr Malinauskas says any merger must result in an internationally recognised top 100 university to drive economic growth through ensuring high-quality research is funded.
Other key outcomes should include engaging with industry, a stable university sector, a strong relationship with vocational training and ensuring students from all socio-economic backgrounds have access to elite, global standard higher education.
Labor says a top 100 university would help stop the brain drain of SA young people studying interstate, attract high-quality researchers and boost the state’s reputation.
Folding Adelaide’s three universities into two in August was urged by UniSA vice-chancellor David Lloyd, while Adelaide University chancellor Catherine Branson, QC, said there was “possible merit in rationalisation”.
At the time, Education Minister John Gardner said the government would “continue to work with and support our universities in important areas of reform and innovation”, while senior SA federal Liberal Simon Birmingham said there was “real merit” in assessing optimal structures across vocational and higher education if reform was to be considered.
