Universities Australia’s case for emergency funds from the feds has not convinced the minister

UA’s argument for emergency funding was put to Education Minister Dan Tehan by Fran Kelly on Radio National, yesterday. Mr Tehan responded;

“When it comes to loans, the Government has obviously put liquidity, more liquidity, into our banking sector. Most universities have relationships with their state treasuries when it comes to finances and financial loans. So, I know many universities are pursuing that with their state treasuries. I continue to work with them on what we need to be doing to look at the domestic load. Now, at the moment, we’ve seen a declining domestic load. But, the expectations are that we will see an increase in that domestic load over time, and that is what I want to continue to work with the sector on.”

Just weeks back this would have cheered HE up, appearing to indicate the possibility of more growth places  in 2021 than provided by performance funding. But now.