THE fears of Swinburne staff and students have been confirmed with a leaked cabinet-in-confidence document revealing Swinburne’s plans to sell its Prahran campus upon relocating the Faculty of Design to Hawthorn from January 2014.
The document, which was submitted to the state government in confidence by 15 of Victoria’s TAFE colleges, outlines Swinburne’s plan to sell the site if the state government does not acquire the land.
Automotive, cookery, government, hospitality and tourism are just a few of the courses that will be discontinued, while “associated staff redundancies” and fee increases of up to 26 per cent will be introduced over a three-year period.
The Prahran site’s value is estimated at $50 million.
Holmesglen TAFE in Chadstone will increase fees by 102 per cent, according to the report.
It also said up to 114 teaching, administrative and support positions would be made redundant by the end of 2012.
The former executive director of Swinburne’s TAFE Division, Judy Bissland, was in shock last Friday, just days after a Swinburne lobby group supplied Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews with petitions signed by 15,002 people rejecting the government’s $300 million TAFE funding cuts.
“All of our nightmares have come true,” she said.
Mr Andrews said the report, “which Ted Baillieu hoped to keep hidden from the people of Victoria”, proves the cuts will have disastrous effect on TAFE students and staff.
Mr Andrews refrained from making any promises to students.
‘‘It is not the time and we must first see the full impact of Ted Baillieu’s funding decisions,’’ he said.
