Having harrumphed at the announcement of the Government’s National Planning Level for international students at universities, HE and voced provider lobbies mostly set about seeking concessions on the quota policy.
Yesterday, Opposition education shadow Sarah Henderson emphasised bipartisan support for slashing international student numbers, saying that while cap concerns were currently being interrogated, “the Coalition supports capping international student numbers.”
But the Group of Eight is in no mood for giving up gracefully, calling quotas “reckless” stating its “implacable opposition” and urging the Senate “to not allow the Government to bully it.” And just in case that did not work, the Eight got all götterdämmerung, announcing on what used to be Twitter, “international student caps will reduce support for commitments in areas like medical and health research, teaching for domestic students and support for low SES students, which are currently supported by international student revenue.” To which Senator Henderson responded, “It is disappointing the Group of Eight … is threatening to cut domestic student numbers. If our top universities are going to reduce domestic students to protect their rivers of gold – billions of dollars in foreign student fees – the Coalition will consider further measures to put Australian students first.”
In contrast, peak body Universities Australia was carefully calibrated, doing the best it could, given it had to be seen to condemn quotas without getting in the way of smaller unis which hope to gain from caps at the expense of the Go8. Thus UA warned quotas “will apply a handbrake to Australia’s second biggest export industry,” and chair David Lloyd (Uni SA VC) added, “we acknowledge the Government’s right to control migration numbers, but this should not be done at the expense of any one sector, particularly one as economically important as education.”
Having got that out of the way, UA repeated its call for a quick end to the capricious visa processing policy Ministerial Direction 107, which played havoc with universities by delaying or denying student visas. Given quotas are sold as a replacement and the Government has been backed into a corner by the Opposition, the only question is when this will happen, Senate permitting.
And then UA got back to business as usual, “we will be working closely with our members on the details of what has been announced today and the impact on their individual institutions as we push for the certainty, stability and growth our sector and the nation needs “
The Innovative Research Universities decided to try to salvage something out of the carnage, proposing concessions that it would accept if the Senate committee considering the Bill asked nicely. They include abolishing the ambit claim that gives a minister power to cancel individual courses in universities and transferring the quota scheme to the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as soon as it is in place.
The Australian Technology Network also asked for changes that the Government will surely give. While the “unfair and fickle approach to visa processing” in Ministerial Direction 107 may not go immediately, as asked, it will go. The ATN also wants clarity on how quotas were set and for Government to consider university circumstances.
And while the Regional Universities Network wants the earliest end to MD 107, it all but endorsed the quotas as good for its members, welcoming “the Government’s returned focus on regional universities” and looking forward to “working with the Government to make sensible changes to Australia’s broader migration settings that will encourage international students to study at Australia’s world-class regional universities.”
All up, the lobbies will get enough operational concessions from the government to save some face, and the only certainty is that tens of thousands of students will now be prevented from enrolling in an Australian degree. Generosity in victory has a whole chapter in Jason Clare’s political playbook and he has signalled he will talk to universities.
