Merger: Upper House inquiry, New Adelaide University means Magill campus to close

The Liberal Opposition has lashed the deal to merge the universities of Adelaide and Uni SA, saying the state government “botched the process”.

Peter Malinauskas at the university merger press conference. Picture: Emma Brasier

The Liberal Opposition says it backs an inquiry into the deal to merge the universities of Adelaide and Uni SA, saying the state government has “botched the process”.

Liberal deputy leader and education spokesman John Gardner said he would support a select committee inquiry and that the government had reneged on its election promise of a commission to look into the feasibility of an amalgamation.

He said while the Liberals were open-minded about the merger, he questioned whether the government’s decision to negotiate directly with the universities was because it was too arrogant, lazy or disrespectful to keep its word.

Greens MLC and co-leader Robert Simms said his party would be moving to refer any merger bill to a Select Committee in the Upper House.

“A merger such as this would inevitably result in bad outcomes for staff and students – job cuts and a poorer student experience with less course offerings,” he said. “Bigger isn’t always better.”

“There are serious questions here about the business case, the level of government investment, the governance of the new institution and the impact of any proposal on staff and students.”

“It’s over to the government now to make a case for this proposal.”

SA-Best MLC Frank Pangallo said his party was not opposed to the merger but would support the inquiry set up by the Greens.

“My concerns are also about the projected figures that have been put by the government, I want to see the evidence of that, I want to see the modelling,” he said.

“There’s no reason why we can’t have an inquiry by the parliament to properly scrutinise what has been planned so that we know it is in the best interests for South Australia and if we find it is in the best interests for South Australia I am sure we can show some support for it.”

The government and universities signed a heads of agreement to create the new university – which will be a merger of The University of Adelaide and UniSA backed by close to $450m in state government funds – on Sunday morning.

The signing was followed by a press conference where Premier Peter Malinauskas warned “delay is denial” and urged parliament to vote in favour of the merger.

“I desperately hope that in the coming weeks and months as the parliament of South Australia has to contemplate the opportunity before us that politics come second and the future of our state and our young kids come first,” he said.

On the prospect of disclosing the merger’s business case and feasibility studies in their entirety, The University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Peter Hoj said some more information would be shared but that it was also “a very competitive national and global market”.

“It would not necessarily be in the state’s interest and the new institution’s interest for everybody to have access to how we believe we can position ourselves stronger in that market,” he said.

Asked about Magill Campus, which the government was purchasing for $64.5m, Mr Malinauskas said UniSA had already had a long-term plan to “offload” it.

“The state government taking ownership of it and leasing it back to the university for as long as they want to be there makes sense,” he said.

Mr Malinauskas said when Magill closed the government would redevelop the site using a “thoughtful masterplan” that considered the interests of the community.

That was preferable to it being in the hands of a developer “who might want to do something to make money”, he said.

Mr Gardner said he wanted to know what the government planned to do with the Magill campus land, which he said was very much part of the local community – having a childcare centre, pool and open spaces – and also of historic significance.

Mr Malinauskas also said the new university “will have the scale and resources to be sustainably positioned in the top 100 in the world”.

Professor Hoj agreed, saying he believed the individual universities would not stay ranked in the top 100 if they remained separate institutions.

The University of Adelaide is 89th and UniSA is 326th in the QS University rankings published last month.

Premier Peter Malinauskas at the university merger press conference. Picture: Emma Brasier

Both Professor Hoj and UniSA’s David Lloyd will continue to be vice-chancellors during the transition.

When Adelaide University started operating in 2026 there would be a “global search” for a new leader, they said.

The new university, which requires approval from SA’s parliament, is expected to generate an extra $500m annually for the state economy by 2034.

It is also forecast to create an extra 1200 jobs and educate an additional 13,000 students.