Unis Aus chair and La Trobe U VC John Dewar, set out the three big issues yesterday

More undergrad places: 46 000 more by 2007. They are needed to “maintain the supply of graduates at the level Australia needs”

“A surge of young people is coming through while we have an urgent skills crisis. The answer is a no-brainer: pair them to the skills shortages and the problem is potentially solved,” Professor Dewar said.

More basic research funding: Professor Dewar pointed to decline in research funding as a per centage of GDP but specifically spoke to the importance of discovery research. “Right now, Australia spends $35.9b dollars on all types of research but only $2.83b dollars on pure basic research. Without pure basic research we are stopping the supply of new ideas to translate into new products, applications and services. This makes us dependant on others to supply those ideas. That’s not a place Australia should be.”

More money for teaching: The previous government’s Job Ready Graduates package got a mention, but not the condemnation humanities lobbies want, for what their students now have to pay. Rather, Professor Dewar focused on changes to funding per Commonwealth supported place, which he says JRG reduced by 6 per cent on average. “It’s too soon to gauge the full impact of Job Ready Graduates. The package is a big and complicated one. Conditions have changed. It’s likely that changes to the policy framework will be needed to enable universities to keep delivering what students, employers and the nation need.”

The team working on the Government’s proposed universities accord will have taken notes.