A weekend State Government drop to Perth media announced a renewed inquiry into merging Uni WA with either, or both, Murdoch and Curtin Universities.
Edith Cowan U, which will move to the Perth CBD in February is explicitly excluded.
Attorney General and International Education Minister Tony Buti has appointed a committee chaired by former state Labor minister and federal MP Alannah MacTiernan will report on costs and benefits by year end.
The case for quarantining ECY was quickly made in a Sunday statement by Vice Chancellor Clare Pollock, “our distinct identity, strong industry and community partnerships, and people-first approach continue to set us apart as we approach the opening of the ECU city campus.”
A merger among the others is pitched as a competitive response to the creation of the new Adelaide U, from the existing University of Adelaide and South Australia. The rationale for a state mega-uni there is competitive scale in attracting research funding and international enrolments.
The weekend announcement appears the penultimate step in a strategy started by then state scientist Peter Klinken in 2021, when he floated the idea of a single state U at a Legislative Assembly committee hearing. Professor Klinken argued a giant WAU it would have the resources to rise up the international rankings and keep the state competitive.
“If you have good rankings, students come to you. That covers your research, therefore you get better rankings and therefore you get more students; it is a virtuous circle going forward. If you cut the students, you have less money to go into research, your research rankings go down, your international rankings go down, students are less likely to come and see you, therefore you have less money, you do less research and you go through a death spiral.”
A State Government inquiry chaired by Sandra Harding (ex VC James Cook U) followed in 2023, which was never released and appeared to disappear, perhaps because of strong opposition from Curtin U and, especially Murdoch U. But with Labor’s extraordinary State Election win in March, now premier Roger Cook can do what he chooses and if he wants two universities instead of four then that is likely.
The West Australian newspaper signed up on the weekend with an editorial that questioned the cost but concluded that, “like banks before them, universities must combine for better results.”