What we learned: Monday, 24 March
With that, we will wrap the blog for the afternoon. We’ll be back first thing tomorrow, with all eyes on the budget that nobody expected.
For now, here were today’s major developments:
The prime minister has told his federal colleagues Labor will “unashamedly stand for workers” as it prepares to unveil its final budget before the federal election. The defence minister and deputy PM, Richard Marles, flagged an additional $1bn for defence to be revealed tomorrow, while the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, also spruiked more than $2bn found in budget savings.
Every school in Australia will be fully funded within the decade after the federal government secured a deal with Queensland – the last holdout state – on public schools. The sunshine state will receive $2.8bn to 2034 to be tied to education reforms and targets.
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan and her husband, Peter Jordan, have apologised after video circulated showing him removing a Liberal campaign sign from a Melbourne yard.
And the Trump administration’s temporary pause of funding to conduct a review into whether Australian university researchers promote administration priorities and avoid “DEI” and “woke gender ideology” does not amount to foreign interference, the education minister has said.
Updated
University of Wollongong proposes drastic job cuts in face of major deficit
The University of Wollongong (UoW) has proposed slashing up to 185 full time roles as part of a major overhaul to reduce an ongoing deficit.
Potentially affected staff have been notified by the university and will participate in briefings this week. The proposal, now in its consultation phase, would also reduce the UoW’s faculties from four to three and its schools from 18 to 11.
Academic, student and research support services are proposed to be reconfigured as a “hub-and-spoke model within central portfolios to improve the efficiency and effectiveness”. The move is expected to reduce 155 to 185 full-time equivalent jobs. with savings of around $26m.
In a statement, the university said it was facing “significant financial challenges, in part due to the Australian government’s changes to visa processing and migration policy and a sharp reduction in international student numbers”.
As a result, UOW suffered a $35m drop in revenue in 2024, with ongoing impacts forecast for 2025.
Interim vice chancellor and president, Senior Prof Eileen McLaughlin, said the university “must continue to make challenging choices now to set the university up for a brighter future”.
Our priority is to strengthen our foundations and deliver a sustainable future for the university while ensuring that UOW remains competitive and innovative.
The final changes are expected to be released on 23 July.
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