Battle lines drawn as Curtin opposes WA’s mega-university plan

A leader of one of the state’s major universities says the institution will “vigorously oppose” a planned merger of Curtin, Murdoch and the University of WA after the Cook government announced it will progress a business case to create a mega-university.

Premier Roger Cook and Tertiary and International Education Minister Tony Buti on Sunday announced plans to build a business case to guide the proposed merge of three of the state’s top universities before a final decision is made.

According to the state government, the plan will be undertaken by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, with input from a steering committee led by Western Australian businessman Mark Barnaba as chair and medical researcher Professor Fiona Wood as deputy chair.

However, Curtin University vice chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne expressed deep concern about the merger and said the institution is planning to oppose the proposal.

“Curtin will vigorously oppose this in the best interests of our more than 67,000 students, 10,000 staff, 300,000 graduates and Western Australia’s economic future,” she said.

“Cost, waste, and loss of choice, jobs and legacy will be the hallmarks of the planned merger of universities proposed by the Western Australian government today.

“Every graduate of UWA, Curtin and Murdoch holds a degree from an institution that may not exist in the future.”

Hayne said while the benefits of a potential merger have never been clearly articulated by the state government, she is also aware of the significant costs, risks and disruptions a merger would create for WA’s future.

“We have been clear from the outset that Curtin does not support a forced merger,” she said.

“A three-way merger of Curtin, UWA and Murdoch would create a mega-university of almost 120,000 students – a scale unmatched in Australia and rare internationally. Size at that level brings complexity, not competitiveness, and draws efforts away from our core purposes of teaching, learning and student support.

“As WA faces a cost-of-living crisis, housing pressures, critical shortages of healthcare workers and growing pressure on hospital beds, I can’t see how spending more than a billion dollars in this way will benefit Western Australians.”

Then-education minister Tony Buti commissioned a review of the state’s tertiary sector in 2023 after concerns were raised about plummeting student numbers and research grants, and WA university standings compared to their east coast counterparts.

The review prompted Buti to commission a cost-benefit analysis of the three merger options mid- last year, which was led by former Labor heavyweight Alannah MacTiernan.

According to the state government, both studies found that merging the three WA public universities would provide maximum benefits to the WA economy and the creation of long-term jobs for Western Australians.

They also found that WA is missing out on vital international and national research funding, which a strengthened university will be better positioned to win, further boosting the WA economy.

Buti said the business case is a critical step towards determining the best approach to maintaining a modern, globally competitive university sector here in Western Australia for the long-term.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future education of our children and future leaders and strengthen our economy by ensuring our higher education offerings remain relevant and attractive, so it is important we get this right,” he said.

“Western Australia not only needs to deliver world-class education for students; we also need to build on our existing capability to deliver leading research.

“The business case is about doing the detailed work – confirming costs, transition arrangements, and implementation pathways ahead of a final decision being made.”

Cook said ensuring local workers have the skills needed for WA’s jobs of the future is one of his government’s top priorities.

“We have rebuilt our TAFE campuses and made hundreds of priority courses free for Western Australians, so we can get more local workers into local jobs,” he said.

“The next opportunity to get WA workers job-ready is to ensure that we have a world-class university system that is delivering for Western Australians right across our State.

“While the reports we have undertaken to date have identified the benefits of university mergers, we need to do more work on the potential costs and ability for the reforms to be funded by the universities themselves before making a final decision.”