The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-11 · by Michael Philipps, Holly Thompson
Premier Roger Cook and Minister Tony Buti announced plans to create a mega-university by merging Curtin University, Murdoch University, and the University of Western Australia in Western Australia. However, Curtin University’s vice chancellor, Professor Harlene Hayne, stated that her institution would “vigorously oppose” the merger due to concerns about costs, waste, and potential loss of jobs and academic legacy. The proposed mega-university would have nearly 120,000 students, making it unique in Australia and rare globally. Professor Hayne argued that such a large-scale merge would create complexity rather than competitiveness for educational institutions.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In early September, Premier Roger Cook and Tertiary and International Education Minister Tony Buti announced plans to proceed with a business case for merging three of Western Australia’s top universities: Curtin University, Murdoch University, and the University of WA. The proposed mega-university aims to secure the state's education future and strengthen its economy by ensuring higher education offerings remain relevant and attractive. However, Curtin University Vice Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne expressed deep concern about the merger and declared that Curtin will “vigorously oppose” it in the best interests of its more than 67,000 students, 10,000 staff, and 300,000 graduates, citing concerns over cost, waste, loss of choice, jobs, and legacy. The business case development will be managed by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, with oversight from a steering committee chaired by Western Australian businessman Mark Barnaba and Deputy Chair Professor Fiona Wood.
Written for “WA Mega University Plan Controversy” on 2026-10-11,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 3 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
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Leaning score withheld for article 71487: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-11
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.
asserted
it → say → 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.
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decision → announce → universities
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.
uncertain
plan → accord → 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.
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institution → express → 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.
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she → oppose → students
“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.
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Cost → plan → government
“Every graduate of UWA, Curtin and Murdoch holds a degree from an institution that may not exist in the future.”
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that → hold → 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.
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merger → say → 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.
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merger → support → Australia
Size at that level brings complexity, not competitiveness, and draws efforts away from our core purposes of teaching, learning and student support.
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Size → bring → teaching
“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.
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spending → face → 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.
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concerns → commission → 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.
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which → prompt → 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.
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merging → accord → 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.
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university → find → 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.
“
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case → say → 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.
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he → have → economy
“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.
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we → need → research
“The business case is about doing the detailed work - confirming costs, transition arrangements, and implementation pathways ahead of a final decision being made.”
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case → do → decision
Cook said ensuring local workers have the skills needed for WA’s jobs of the future is one of his government’s top priorities.
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workers → say → 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.
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he → rebuild → jobs
“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.
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that → get → 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.”
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reforms → undertake → decision
The Aporia
