University Merger

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): My question is again to the Premier. How does the Premier respond to staff and community members concerned about the government's university merger plan? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: A survey of more than 1,000 staff by the National Tertiary Education Union found 75 per cent were opposed to the merger plan, with many expressing particular disappointment at the poor process and lack of consultation. A survey of nearly 2,000 South Australians—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —by the opposition found significant opposition to the use of taxpayer funds being used for the merger. The NTEU SA division secretary said:

The process must be evidence-based. It needs to be managed with the strictest public oversight protections and stakeholder engagement mechanisms imaginable. Getting this wrong would be catastrophic for South Australia.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (14:28): I had an interesting meeting with the NTEU recently about that survey and about the merger process, or the proposition that there might be the creation of a new university in South Australia. It was interesting to me the amount the Leader of the Opposition is leaning on a survey to which 90 per cent of staff did not respond, and 20 per cent of the respondents—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: —came from Flinders University, which is not currently in any sort of discussion about merger. I am not at that point dismissing the legitimate feedback from those staff who did choose to participate in the survey, but let's understand that this is a self-selecting response. This isn't a random survey of 10 per cent of staff across three universities—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morialta!

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: —it is a survey to which 90 per cent of staff chose not to respond, and those who did doubtless are the ones who are—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned. The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your protection. Nonetheless, clearly there are a small number of people who are involved in the two universities who are currently working through a feasibility study process who have some concerns. I understand that. The way in which the university sector has been treated by the federal government over the last 10 years, for example, until the Albanese government was elected, was a disgrace.

The war of the Morrison government against universities has meant that university staff and management have felt under siege. Let's not forget the way in which international students were treated by the Morrison government when COVID hit, for example—and, I would say, in contrast with the now opposition and then government, who were supportive of international students during that time alongside the universities, and I congratulate them on that.

Nonetheless, that does not take away from the effect of Canberra's attitude towards universities for those last 10 years, so I understand that there is a degree of anxiety and concern. I believe it to be misplaced, as I said to the NTEU and I am happy to say now. There is a proposition to consider creating a new university that will be high equity and research intensive. It will be large enough to attract significant research dollars, and let's not forget that for every dollar that is attracted to research nearly $10 dollars is spent in the private sector, so let's not try to dismiss the importance of attracting more research dollars here.

Let's not forget that we have well under our population percentage of researchers in South Australia in comparison to our population share, and we can do better. One way we can do better is to have a university of mass that is high research intensity, that will be globally ranked well and that has a large enough student body that it is able to attract more and from a more diverse student base and attract more international students.

These are goals that all of us should think are worthy. In fact, at the time, the opposition expressed that they thought that if the universities thought this was a good idea they would be happy to support it. That seems to have evaporated unfortunately, along with the general idea that maybe we could occasionally be bipartisan—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: —about the growth and prosperity of this state on behalf of our people.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Colton! Member for Schubert!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Schubert! The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: So, to return to the nub of the question about the anxiety, I have responded in detail to the NTEU. I will continue to discuss with staff. I think it's misplaced and I don't think it's significantly held.