One Nation proposes three years of “net negative immigration” and to reduce international student numbers to the 2015 count; a 20% headcount cut on this year.
One Nation leader Paulie Hanson argues her policy, “will not destroy our universities.” It would grant 100,000 student visas, with an additional 15,000 visas for ‘High-value study / PhD’ students. International students would have to leave Australia immediately after completing their studies unless eligible for a graduate pathway.
The proposal is a gift for higher education lobbies desperate to prove theirs and the national interest are the same on international student numbers. While the Government and Coalition have been eager to prove they are tough on immigration, they may ease up on universities as they focus on attacking ON.
Under the ON policy, graduate visas would be slashed to 20,000, with dependent/family visas for graduates cut out entirely, under the One Nation proposal. Cuts to international student and graduate visa holders would deliver the majority of One Nation’s proposed 766,000 cut to the number of immigrants on visas in Australia over their proposed three-year immigration cuts.
Pauline Hanson’s overall message is, “we should be exporting education, not selling migration.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns also entered the fray – telling universities they should build more accommodation rapidly to help them rekindle social licence and defend against arguments that international students are impacting the housing market. The Property Council weighed in rapidly to support the Minns position, saying we need more student housing, not fewer students.
The timing of the ON announcement is certainly critical for the future of HE. The long-running joint parliamentary committee inquiry into skilled migration is holding its ninth hearing on Friday, with Universities Australia and Group of Eight giving evidence.
UA CEO Luke Sheehy rehearses his pitch in a message to members, “Australia needs a migration system with integrity and public confidence, but we also need the skills to grow our economy and fill critical workforce shortages. Universities are central to that task – educating Australians, training skilled migrants here and attracting talented people who contribute to our economy, research system and communities.”
However, UA does not address the nation not making the most of the skilled migrants it has. The Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering warns half Australia’s foreign-born engineers are not working in the profession.
And while the lobby warns a “particular supply gap exists in our research workforce,” it does not mention Frank Larkins (Uni Melbourne’s analysis) which shows universities had around 6,500 (15%) fewer Australian research students 2015-24, while they enrolled 6,800 (33%) more internationals.
Ahead of their evidence, the Group of Eight’s submission to the committee makes a similar case that their international graduates can make more of a contribution to the Australian economy.
But they could have better avoided arguments that universities are used as an immigration path if they had not stated, “international students may not be Australia’s only source of skilled migrants, but they are a powerful pipeline of young, locally-educated talent who have already chosen Australia as their destination of choice.”