Universities to lobby major parties for election focus on education

Australia’s university advocacy groups have called for higher education and research to be made top policy priorities in party campaigns leading up to the federal election on 18 May.

Prime minister Scott Morrison announced the election date on 11 April, saying voters faced “a clear choice” between the coalition’s record of economic management and the promises of a Labor government led by Bill Shorten, a former trade union official.

“Now is not the time to turn back,” Morrison told media at his press conference in Canberra.