Word is that there is a small, $13m (well, it’s all relative innit) 2020 surplus

Observers say this means the university will not need the proceeds of the staff leave purchase scheme that was part of the deal done by management and campus unions at the height of the grim expectations of what COVID-19 would bring. Back then the university thought it would need $15m in staff savings to help meet the expected $75m budget shortfall (CMM May 25.)

But not all of it now. And so, management wants to give their money back to people who paid for extra leave, as of July 1. Plus the university proposes an all-staff payment of $500. As the leave payment was part of an agreement with unions, members will have to approve – hard to see why they wouldn’t.