“It would be a disaster if it ever disappeared. Without it, Warrnambool would be just another big country town,” Mr Krygger said. 

As head of the south-west’s largest employer, Mr Krygger said his organisation relied heavily on Deakin to provide a big portion of his staff. 

“A large majority of our nursing staff are graduates of the Deakin Warrnambool nursing program,” Mr Krygger said. 

“Our graduate nursing program is highly sought after and our entire finance team are graduates of the accounting school. Then of course there is the jewel in the crown, the medical school.

“I would be absolutely devastated if that was ever under threat. We fought so hard to have that facility established. We are now starting to employ doctors from that program for their intern year.” 

Mr Krygger said there were significant benefits to having doctors and nurses trained by the same university. 

He said the university campus also provided a key selling point when recruiting staff from across the country and the globe. 

“To be able to say we have a high quality university campus is really attractive for people,” Mr Krygger said.

“We have been able to recruit highly specialised people because of that campus, it shows there is a vibrancy and options for further education.” 

He said aside from the benefits to his organisation, a university campus had significant benefits to the social fabric of the community. 

“Having a university means ambitious and highly skilled young people are calling Warrnambool home,” Mr Krygger said. 

“It makes Warrnambool a better city to live in because it is bringing people from all over the country.” 

Mr Krygger urged Deakin management to explore every possibility to reverse declining enrolments, including introducing courses tailored to the region’s key industries. 

“The entire community needs to support this and show the university we don’t want to lose this valuable asset,” he said.