The federal opposition has strongly opposed the government’s plans to cap international students at 270,000, dismissing it as a “piecemeal” solution to broader immigration concerns.
With just weeks before the laws were set to take effect, the Coalition vowed to vote against the policy, arguing it failed to address the underlying issues.
Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan stated that the bill would not fix the root problems affecting Australia’s immigration system.
“We’ve seen a doubling of the number of international students here in Australia, our research points to the fact there is over a million people here now who are either on international student visas or who came here on international student visas, and this is in a housing and rental crisis,” he told Sky News Australia.
Tehan pointed out that the bill neglects secondary visas, which include partners of international students. These now number over 120,000, and 86 percent are seeking to stay in Australia.
He said the bill addressed only one issue, leaving many others unresolved.
“So we want to make sure that we’ve got a suite of policies that we will put to the Australian people to deal with this,” he said, adding that regional universities and private education providers should be adequately consulted.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume also criticised the government’s approach, stating that placing caps on international students would not solve immigration issues.
“These caps that the government want to place on international students are just part of a very piecemeal approach really does nothing to address the structural problems,” she told ABC Radio.
“Just putting caps on international students rather than addressing the visa system is really not solving a problem.”
The proposed cap would limit international students to fewer than half of the 445,000 expected to enrol in 2024, returning immigration levels to pre-pandemic levels.
While Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had previously supported such caps, the Coalition now strongly opposes them.
Industry Minister Ed Husic criticised the opposition for its political manoeuvring.
“This is another case of them playing politics, putting their political interests above the interests of the country,” he told ABC.
Concerns from the Education Sector
Vicki Thomson, Chief Executive of the Group of Eight, which represents Australia’s most research intensive universities, said the caps be damaging to the sector.“From the get-go, this legislation has just been chaotic and wrapped up in a discussion around migration,” she told ABC Radio. “For us, what we see now is a level of certainty going into 2025.”
Thomson also clarified that removing the caps would not result in a surge of international students immediately.
“It takes 12 or 18 months for students from the time you actually begin your recruitment process till the time they come, so we don’t expect a massive influx,” she said.
“What we do want to do, though, is have a good discussion with government and opposition as we lead into 2025 around what the shape is of our international education sector.”
