Growing calls for cash-strapped CDU to explain how it will pay for Cavenagh St car park site

CASH-STRAPPED Charles Darwin University has been criticised for refusing to disclose how it will pay $14.6 million for the Cavenagh St car park.

Charles Darwin University has been criticised for refusing to disclose how it will pay $14.6 million for the Cavenagh St car park. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

• Cavenagh St car park site officially transferred to CDU, with parking area to close this Sunday
• CDU city campus land payment confusion

CHARLES Darwin University has been criticised for refusing to disclose how it will pay $14.6 million for the Cavenagh St car park.

There is confusion over how CDU will pay for the land, earmarked for the university’s city campus, after reports ­surfaced in early June that Vice-Chancellor Simon Maddocks was heard suggesting CDU would not be paying for the site.

Repeated queries from the NT News have been told only that the land would be “transferred” from the City of Darwin to the university.

National Tertiary Education Union NT president Darius Pfitzner said the community was entitled to know how CDU would pay for the land given the university’s significance in the Territory.

“CDU plays an important role in the social matrix of the Northern Territory and its education requirements,” Prof Pfitzner said.

“The transfer of its finances, especially those that affect the development of the Northern Territory and Darwin itself, should be transparent.”

An artist’s impression of the proposed Charles Darwin University CBD campus. Picture: ARM Architecture

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NTEUNT division secretary Rajeev Sharma said transparency from CDU was important given its financial history.

“CDU is a public institution, not a private corporation. Staff, students and the general public have a right to know how CDU proposes to pay for it,” Dr Sharma said.

“This is particularly so at a time when CDU has been undergoing extensive restructuring that has involved a reduction in staffing and courses. CDU’s position is that this is due to financial difficulties it has experienced.”

When asked to respond to the union’s comments, a CDU spokeswoman said it would “make announcements when appropriate”.

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Before the coronavirus pandemic, the university reported a $9 million deficit, which was projected to reach $22 million due to COVID-19.

The university’s financial troubles in recent years have led to the proposed axing of 35 Vocational Education and Training qualifications and 16 permanent staff due to “growing expenses and declining revenues”.

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