I wonder whether WSU teaches ethics in its courses. Obviously, the statements were a complete and unadulterated lie. The university lied to the people of Blacktown and, in less than three years, it is now shutting down the campus. In 1995 the campus offered numerous courses for degrees that included a masters course, PhDs and diplomas. In 2007 the university dropped all the degree courses and created a college model of offering only diplomas. That was the first kick in the guts for the people of Blacktown. The college was successful, but over time course after course was deleted, which resulted in a corresponding downturn in the number of students. We do not have to be hifalutin economics graduates to work out that, if the college cuts courses, then it will have fewer students.
The key reason for closing the campus is that last year student numbers fell to 1,229, which is about half of what they were in 2019 and probably a mere 10 per cent of student numbers back in the early 2000s. Cut courses plus reduced services equals fewer students. Western Sydney University has engineered the death of the Nirimba campus. Let me look at some of the interesting financial decision‑making of a university that teaches business and entrepreneurship. First, it changed its name from the University of Western Sydney to Western Sydney University and put "University" at the back of its name and came out with a new red logo. According to 2015 reports, it cost $20 million just to do that. Advertising costs in the last 10 years alone, apart from the $20 million rebranding, amounted to $132 million, which was spent on marketing, advertising and promotion.
Western Sydney University has been the sole university in Western Sydney since its inception over 40 years ago and has spent $13 million a year to convince Western Sydney students to consider studying there. Greater Western Sydney has a population of approximately 2.7 million but, by the looks of things—such as the closure of the Blacktown campus—it has not been very successful in attracting students. Blacktown City's population is 430,000. According to Western Sydney University, one person in eight in Western Sydney does not deserve to have a comprehensive system of education. I give Western Sydney University a hot tip that will not cost $13 million a year: It cannot advertise itself and buy support in the area.
I will give another piece of free advice: Western Sydney University might as well change its name to Western Sydney Ex-Blacktown. I note that Ben English fromThe Daily Telegraph is hosting a forum with the title of "The Future of Western Sydney". I will give Ben a hot tip: Why not direct the first question to Western Sydney University and ask why that university does not consider Blacktown to be part of Western Sydney? Blacktown City has a $24 billion economy, which is a larger economy than over 70 nations, and a population that will exceed that of Tasmania by 2035. Obviously, according to Western Sydney University, Tasmania does not deserve to have a university.
It pains me greatly to call on the residents of Blacktown City to adopt this attitude: Since Western Sydney University has rejected us, let's reject Western Sydney University. Goodbye, Western Sydney University. Thank God the Australian Catholic University has moved into the Blacktown CBD and offers nursing, teaching, business, law, community services, sports science—you name it. It is the only university in the world that was open during COVID and it supports Blacktown City.
