Alexander Downer says a merged Adelaide University must focus on areas of research excellence to succeed

Former federal Liberal leader turned academic Alexander Downer has some ideas on how a merged Adelaide mega-uni could create world-leading research.

A merger of Adelaide’s universities can succeed if a world-leading research institution focused on South Australia’s strengths is created, says London-based academic and former federal Liberal leader Alexander Downer.

In an interview with The Advertiser, Mr Downer said the proposed merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia hinged on good management, saying there was “no point” going ahead if the objective was merely saving money.

Mr Downer, now the executive chair of the International School for Government at the prestigious King’s College London, said a substantial portion of any extra net revenue generated by the merged institution needed to be ploughed into research.

“What they’ve got to do is create a new institution out of the existing institutions which is a world leader,” Mr Downer told The Advertiser.

“There’s no point in doing it if it’s just for the sake of some cost savings, because you get some diseconomies of scale, not just economies of scale.”

Alexander Downer speaks out on the proposed SA universities merger. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The chairman of a company seeking to exploit SA hydrogen resources, Mr Downer also declared the state government’s proposed $593m hydrogen power plant “a good idea if they can make it financially viable” but warned of major risks.

Australia’s longest-serving foreign affairs minister, Mr Downer’s official archive is housed at UniSA, while in 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Adelaide “for his exceptionally distinguished service to Australian society and to the university”.

An unprecedented state government-backed deal was inked in December to start a merger process for the universities of Adelaide and South Australia to form Adelaide University, triggering a feasibility study, business case and financial plan phase lasting up to six months, ahead of any final merger deal.

Mr Downer said the success of any merged university depended on research quality and management of the transition process.

“They have to make sure that they put a lot of any extra net revenue they’re able to generate into research,” he said.

“It needs to be focused on areas where South Australia might have a comparative advantage – turn Adelaide University into a world leader in particular areas.”

Mr Downer warned of creating a “huge university” that was “an impersonal institution”.

“So, for the students, they become anonymous (in) massive classes, no one-on-one, no knowledge of the lecturers, of the teachers – they don’t know them, the teachers don’t know their students – it becomes a very impersonal sort of place,” he said.

“It’s important not to allow that to happen.”

Mr Downer, also the chairman of a company seeking to exploit naturally occurring hydrogen resources on Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, said SA could become a world leader in this field.

Brisbane-based Gold Hydrogen, which Mr Downer chairs, hopes to extract the naturally occurring hydrogen without fracking or hydraulic stimulation.

“South Australia ... has the opportunity to become a world leader and that’s a great opportunity for the South Australian economy, for South Australia to lead the way,” he said.

Mr Downer said the state government’s planned $593m hydrogen power plant at Whyalla was “a good idea if they can make it financially viable”.

But he warned green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy as proposed for the Whyalla plant, was “pretty expensive at the moment”.

“It’s not very competitive, particularly with gas and South Australia is a big gas producer, (and) natural hydrogen can be extracted at quite a small percentage of the price of producing green hydrogen,” Mr Downer said.

Numerous countries were getting into green hydrogen, Mr Downer said, creating global competition and emphasising the need for SA’s industry to be cost-effective.