Researching the history of Charles Sturt University (CSU) turns up some interesting facts, including that every campus outside Wagga was built, or closed, to suit political advantage to the party in power - the “swinging seat” effect.

CSU dates back to Wagga Agricultural College, and the Teachers’ College established after World War II.

In the early 1970s, these various profession-specific institutions became part of the College of Advanced Education (CAE) network with Commonwealth funding, so in 1972 Riverina CAE (RCAE) was formed.

States controlled the politics of siting, courses, and so on, while the Commonwealth provided incentives, and money.

Teachers’ Colleges, for example, were uncoupled from state education departments.

Their courses reflected a more “generalist education” than the teaching-skills courses that were part of the old two-year teaching courses. 

And this is where the politics becomes interesting. Goulburn Teachers’ College opened in 1970 as a Liberal Government initiative. My wife Cheryl was trained there. She completed her third year course by Correspondence. Goulburn became a CAE, and Cheryl was appointed to the new College Council, representing past students. 

Labor’s Neville Wran was elected in 1976. A new College Council was named in 1977, and the Goulburn CAE was slowly wound down until by 1982 remaining staff and students became part of RCAE in Wagga.

The site remained vacant until the Police Academy was moved from Redfern to Goulburn in 1984.

At this stage, RCAE was a booming institution with outreach centres in Albury, Griffith and Goulburn.

I remember at the time, one lecturer from Albury commenting that if only Wagga could also take over Armidale, the initials could then be WAGGA - Wagga, Albury, Griffith, Goulburn, plus Armidale!

The Correspondence section (we’d call it Online Education today) grew dramatically, and over time overtook Armidale for the greatest number of External Students.

Next, CAEs became Institutes of Higher Education. The Wagga campus became Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education (RMIHE) in 1985, reflecting growth of the Albury outreach centre. Albury became a “swinging seat” when Labor’s Harold Mair won Albury in 1978. Albury then agitated for its own independent institute.

Labor held Albury until 1988, when Liberal Ian Glachan won in a landslide. The new Liberal Government was taking no chances of Albury returning to Labor, so when CSU came into being in 1989, via the NSW Government’s “Charles Sturt University Act 1989”, an Albury campus was part of the deal.

From 1981-88, Bathurst was held by Labor. A Liberal won the seat in 1988, just in time for all the vital decisions after the 1989 CSU Act, so no guessing why CSU’s head office had to be in Bathurst! Labor won Bathurst from 1991 until 2011, reverting to the Nationals during the current term. The neighbouring seat of Orange, once a Coalition stronghold, went to the Shooters in a by-election.

The Orange CSU campus with a “large vineyard and farm” (CSU Wagga once had a commercial vineyard!) is on the old Orange Agricultural College site.

Dubbo now has a well-established CSU campus because Dubbo went Independent from 1999 until 2011. Coincidence? In 1999 the NSW Parliament amended the Charles Sturt University Act to establish a Dubbo campus of CSU!

Then there is the new CSU Port Macquarie campus, with Stage 1 just completed.

Commonwealth money flowed when the seat of Lyne, on the mid north coast, became Independent federally. Remember long-winded Rob Oakeshott?

The Port Macquarie state seat was Independent from 2002 until 2011.

Most of the CSU Council and Committee meetings were held in Canberra or Sydney during 2018.

I have been led to believe that the Vice-Chancellor lives in Sydney.

Are you seeing the pattern? Wagga has gradually lost out to campuses in swinging seats. But now, Wagga has elected an Independent. We have swinging seat leverage just like Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Port Macquarie, and Albury. Can our new Independent MLA, Joe McGirr, use this leverage to defend course cuts in Wagga?