Page 3870 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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and prestige, the merger would subsume the CIT, and it would not be the marriage of equals that Professor Bradley insisted it had to be if the merger were to be successful.
Vice Chancellor Stephen Parker is quoted as being confident the university would have a strong future without the merger but that the opportunity to create a new dual-sector university was a straightforward decision. “I have always known a merger with CIT could be fitted in,” he suggests, which does not exactly sound like a marriage of equals.
So we have had three reviews, one on top of the other, none of which has had any serious scrutiny by this Assembly. We have had a task force, a learning council and a government strategy group, all within the blink of an eye, and still no reference to this Assembly and, in all of that, we have had not one piece of financial analysis. While I am talking about financial analysis—I have already spoken about having met with Professor Bradley—I would like to read from a letter that I have written to the minister as a follow-up to that meeting that I had with Professor Bradley. My letter was sent to Minister Barr on 12 August, over two weeks ago, which I have had no response to. The letter reads:
Dear Minister,
Thank you for the recent briefing on the proposed merger between the University of Canberra and Canberra Institute of Technology. During the course of the briefing your representatives were asked if they could provide the Opposition with the financial analysis that supported your intended policy.
We were advised that no such analysis exists and, further, that the consultant, Professor Denise Bradley, was not asked to even consider this critical element in her report.
I was surprised by this response as I am sure the Government would not have undertaken such a critical piece of work without any financial analysis and so am seeking your further advice.
Minister, could you please:
1. Confirm exactly what financial analysis has been undertaken in relation to the proposed merger,
2. Provide advice to me as to why this was excluded from the consultants’ brief,
3. If such financial analysis does in fact exist, provide me with it as a matter of urgency?
Please contact my office if you require any clarification or further information.
That was two weeks ago and I am still waiting for a response from Mr Barr.
This weekend there are open days across all of Canberra’s tertiary institutions. This is when they showcase their programs to next year’s undergraduates. I know of at least two young men who had chosen University of Canberra ahead of universities in
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