WA seeks Deloitte refund after errors in university merger report
The Guardian found a A$260 million gap in one merger cost table, alongside earlier fabricated references. The government seeks recovery of its fee; TNW repeated the finding without checking the arithmetic.
Artificial Intelligence··Morning
A report cost becomes a recovery request
Western Australia’s government is seeking to recover the A$166,000 it paid Deloitte for a study of possible mergers among the University of Western Australia, Curtin University and Murdoch University. A government spokesperson told Guardian Australia that the department had written to Deloitte to expedite the recovery. The new request follows discovery of wrong totals in the study’s cost tables, on top of earlier scrutiny of fabricated references. The study assessed the feasibility and costs of possible university mergers. The question now is whether a corrected document can support the next stage of policy assessment.[1], [2]
Two totals do not match their components
Guardian Australia examined an appendix scenario for merging Curtin and the University of Western Australia. It listed A$514 million in costs up to the first day and A$145 million over the following five years. Those components add to A$659 million, while the report printed A$399 million, leaving a A$260 million discrepancy. In another, three-university scenario, components of A$396 million and A$116 million sum to A$512 million, but the table printed A$823 million. That difference is A$311 million. The Next Web repeated the first discrepancy while explicitly saying it had not checked the appendix arithmetic itself. The numerical finding therefore rests on Guardian Australia’s inspection and the reported figures.[1], [2]
The model’s assurance remains an assurance
Deloitte disclosed that generative AI helped gather research, summarise information and proofread the report. That admission and the fabricated references do not establish that AI produced the arithmetic errors. The government says it was advised that the mistakes do not alter the modelling or findings and that Deloitte will correct and reissue the study. This is the government’s account of an assurance, not an independent validation of the model. Public-finance expert Stephen Bartos told Guardian Australia the errors damaged the document’s credibility and called for thorough manual re-examination. The practical consequence is an evidence problem for a contested merger proposal: decision-makers need totals that can be reconciled before relying on the report.[1]
