Margaret Gardner will call for a return to the demand driven supply of publicly funded undergraduate places and restoration of research funding.

“We cannot develop high quality graduates ready for innovative careers without research that creates new knowledge. This research-teaching nexus is the foundation to create and disseminate the next generation of ideas,” the chair of Universities Australia and Monash U VC will say in her speech to the National Press Club today.

Professor Gardner positions her pitch on UA’s new social media campaign, “university research changes lives,” (CMM December 14 2018) which presents research helping people suffering from stroke, cancer and domestic violence.

“The stories of Australians … – whose health and future rely on university research breakthroughs – speak to trust, to respect and to impact.”

Professor Gardner also argues the electorate understands the importance of access;

“Two-thirds of Australians believe that cutting funds for student places at universities is the wrong decision for Australia’s future.  Many Australians worry deeply and rightly such cuts are profoundly unfair to Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds, from regional Australia, and to future students.”

And she adds, Australians recognise the value of research; “two-thirds of Australians believe that cutting funds for student places at universities is the wrong decision for Australia’s future. They fear – rightly – such cuts will mean fewer university researchers able to work on life-changing breakthroughs.”

UA’s chair will point to a survey commissioned by UA after December’s MYEFO funding cuts that show they are opposed by two-thirds of respondents.