Police Minister Reece Whitby has raised concerns about a Deloitte report into the cost benefits of merging three of Western Australia’s universities into one.
The University of Western Australia is the first of three universities earmarked for a merger to speak out in favour of the government plan.
Vice-chancellor Amit Chakma said a merger of UWA, Curtin and Murdoch universities offers the right aspiration for the future of the sector.
“A knowledge driven economy requires a strong university, research university, with scale,” Professor Chakma told ABC radio.
“Today, as good as we are at UWA and other universities, our total research revenue at five universities is less than that of the University of Queensland.
