Scott Morrison’s refusal to help universities through the COVID crisis has seen local university workers sacked, campuses closed, and courses cut.

Federal Member for Blair, Shayne Neumann said that 40 jobs have been lost because of the Liberal Government’s deliberate refusal to allow the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) to receive JobKeeper payments.

“These are academics, tutors and the professional staff who keep our universities running,” Mr Neumann said.

“University staff have families and bills to pay, I just can’t understand why the Liberals are happy to see their livelihoods destroyed.”

Mr Neumann said that while USQ, with campuses in Springfield and Ipswich, had lost 40 jobs, other universities that rely more heavily on international students have seen major losses.

Griffith University has lost 299 staff and 648 courses have been cancelled

The Queensland University of Technology has lost 159 staff and is reviewing its courses.

The University of Queensland has lost 66 people, with the Agriculture and Engineering courses affected.

“To make matters worse, Scott Morrison’s recent Budget confirms real Government funding for universities will fall by 10 per cent over the next three years, while $1 billion in emergency funding to support research jobs is cut off.

“Because of Scott Morrison’s decisions, universities have been forced to abolish courses like neuroscience, engineering, maths and Asian languages, that will be essential to Australia in coming years and decades.”