Adelaide University

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is to the Premier. Do any of the conditions included in the funding agreement supporting the merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia require that institution to implement measures addressing gender pay equity and, if not, why not?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:23): I am more than happy to inquire on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition and come back to him regarding that. What I know is that both institutions, to the best of my knowledge, are committed to addressing the challenge of the gender pay gap, which is a real life—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is on his final warning.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The irony of the member for Unley interjecting on this subject matter is not lost on any of us. I was very pleased to see that the vice chancellor of the new institution is an outstanding woman who has been recruited to that role in the—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: A woman? What, so they can save some money?

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley can leave the chamber until the end of question time.

The honourable member for Unley having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: She is an outstanding woman who we believe will do an exceptional job in establishing that institution from the get-go. The bringing together of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia is a milestone achievement for our state and was an important policy that this government took to the last state election. We genuinely believe that now, more than ever, is the time for the state to take on challenges and to take on calculated and thoughtful endeavours that might have a degree of risk—indeed, political risk—associated with them.

We are very aware that this policy enjoyed its critics, including those opposite, but we got it done. There are a number of people who said it would never happen, that it would be impossible, that it would never work. Yet here we are on the precipice of the new amalgamated university, a new institution starting next year that will genuinely advance the interests of future generations of South Australians and our economy more broadly.

This is probably one of the bigger microeconomic reforms that has ever occurred in the history of this state. Starting next year, Adelaide University will be the largest educator of domestic students in the country—the largest in terms of number of students. More than that, it has already achieved a top 100 ranking. People forecast that that would not be the case, yet it already has. This is something to be excited about. I know that a lot of people within the university are working very hard indeed to bring this ambitious project together in a way that is seamless for students.

Naturally, something as complex as this brings with it challenges, and there will be yet more that emerge. That is undoubtedly true but we believe it is worth it. We believe there is a long-term dividend to be yielded for South Australia as a result of this new institution realising all the benefits of bringing them together that can be realised, none more so than making sure that more young South Australians are getting access to tertiary education in the highest quality format. That is probably one of the most powerful levers that a state government can utilise to address growing degrees of income inequality across the spectrum, whether it be the gender pay gap or across socio-economic backgrounds.

We want more young South Australians getting access to higher education from an elite top 100 university, and we are willing to do the difficult things and the hard things to get the state moving. Again, I submit to the house that this is an example of a government delivering on its commitments and it is yielding a result in terms of having the fastest-growing economy in the nation.