And that reason is that they've been around Australia's most populous cities for the longest time.

Or, you know, that they are damn good institutions.

You sound like an overzealous second year at a Go8

Well thanks, but I'm an overzealous Masters student at a Go8.

Ofcourse non-go8 unis have student guilds

No shit they do Sherlock, I never said they were absent, but rather that they are crap. They have nowhere near as many facilities and support services for their students and they don't have anywhere near the bargaining power with their respective Universities and they have disappointing levels of student involvement.

but sorry to tell you that these are not where the bulk of educational training goes on and aren't a substitute for poor educational standards.

Well again, no shit. I didn't say that was where educational training takes place, but they are still an incredibly important aspect of student life. Perhaps underestimated by yourself.

As for poor educational standards. I have only studied at one Go8, so I can't remark on the educational standards of them all, but my institution is a very good and well respected one, and the educational standards are not lacking. There is the occasional professor who is there based on their research merit and not their teaching ability, but there are still so many resources available. Having a poor quality lecturer is a poor excuse to not learn.

Anyway, I genuinely thought I posted a not-very-controversial comment. I agree wholeheartedly that even my institution is stepping away from having their students best interests at heart and becoming increasingly concerned with only money and ranking. I think that is awful and I am slightly resentful to the Uni because of it. I still think that for now at least, the education standards have not dropped.