A petition to the NSW Parliament calls on the Berejiklian Government to “ensure that no job is lost from a public university in NSW”

Michael Thomson, state secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union says, “while the federal government has primary responsibility for funding universities, the state government also has an important role to play.”

To which the government will likely point to the $100m in payroll tax deferrals available to universities and its promise to guarantee $750m in new borrowings by NSW institutions (CMM June 9).

Apart from its objective, the petition is memorable because it is expected to be the first e-petition put to state parliament. If it reaches 20 000 signatories the Legislative Assembly will debate it.