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senate vote 2024-09-11#6
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-09-22 14:56:59
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Title
Matters of Urgency — International Students- Matters of Urgency - International Students - Criticism
Description
<p class="speaker">Helen Polley</p><p>I inform the Senate that the President has received the following letter, dated 11 September 2024, from Senator McKim:</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-09-11.142.2) introduced by NSW Senator [Mehreen Faruqi](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/nsw/mehreen_faruqi) (Greens), which means it failed.
- ### Motion text
- > *That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:*
- >
- > *The Labor government is displaying absolute disregard and contempt for the international education sector and international students with their chaotic policy which will decimate the tertiary education sector.*
<p class="italic">Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">The Labor government is displaying absolute disregard and contempt for the international education sector and international students with their chaotic policy which will decimate the tertiary education sector".</p><p>Is the proposal supported?</p><p class="italic"> <i>More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—</i></p> <p class="speaker">Mehreen Faruqi</p><p>I move:</p><p class="italic">That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">The Labor government is displaying absolute disregard and contempt for the international education sector and international students with their chaotic policy which will decimate the tertiary education sector.</p><p>The Labor government is intent on destroying the international education sector in Australia. Over three Senate inquiry hearings, we heard from witness after witness—from students, from academics, from universities, from peak bodies and from private providers. They are pretty unanimous in their opposition to this reckless policy and the chaotic process that has brought us to this stage, where a government is hell-bent on decimating the tertiary education sector.</p><p>We are staring down the barrel of thousands of job losses, irreparable damage to Australia's reputation as a welcoming destination for international students and a complete betrayal of the principles of university autonomy and student choice. For decades, governments of both stripes have been slashing funding for unis, and they have all become over reliant on international students, whose exorbitant fees now cross-subsidise domestic students and research.</p><p>This situation should never have arisen. International students should never have been used as cash cows. But here we are, because of the short-sightedness of governments. And now they want to slash and burn, with no plans on how the shortfall of funds will be met. This is just plain disastrous. Labor is holding the sector hostage by telling them they will get rid of the crappy MD107 if these gaps are in place. This is a choice between two evils. It is a no-win situation, and I'm glad people can see right through this and are fighting back because their livelihood, their profession and the future of education in this country are on the line.</p><p>Labor will tell you that this is all about ensuring quality and integrity. But 70 submissions and three hearings later, no-one is able to tell me that caps have anything to do with quality or integrity. And let me tell you about how Labor has made a complete mockery of the Senate inquiry process itself. They released the university cap numbers the day after our original final hearing. When we pushed for a further hearing, the government published caps for the VET sector while we were in that hearing. The government knows they don't have a leg to stand on, so they want to avoid any scrutiny. Well, we're not going to let that happen.</p><p>Evidence shows gaping holes, perverse outcomes, uncertainties, inconsistencies and a complete lack of consultation. These are just some of the flaws that make the whole policy and its process a complete catastrophe. This is a hot mess. The more details that are forced out of the government, the messier this trainwreck gets. Not only is the Labor government intent on decimating the sector; they have absolutely zero regard for the harm they are doing to international students by making them scapegoats for their own policy failures and blaming them for the housing crisis—just disgraceful.</p><p>International students pay massive fees. They work here doing the jobs no-one else does. They bring vibrancy, diversity and culture. They keep unis and the economy going. And you have the audacity to scapegoat and demonise them. And I am loath to frame education as an export sector, because for me it is a public good and a pursuit of knowledge. But the reality is that it is the second-highest export, mining being the first. If anything, it should be climate-wrecking coal and gas that you should be capping, not international student numbers. And if Labor really cares about tertiary education, then fully fund it; wipe student debt, make uni and TAFE free, scrap the Job-ready Graduates Package and give staff job security. Don't come to the table with half-cooked rubbish policy.</p><p>Labor is hell-bent on strangling the sector in their bullish attempt to achieve a migration outcome that has absolutely nothing to do with international students' education. The Liberals don't have clean hands, either. Both have the same racist playbook on migrants. The tertiary education sector, their staff and their students are becoming collateral damage in this shameful racist race to the bottom between Labor and the Liberals on migration.</p><p>Prime Minister Albanese knows how to backflip. It's time he backflips on these reckless, irrational and illogical caps. It's time to go back to the drawing board and come back with an education bill, not a migration policy.</p> <p class="speaker">Sarah Henderson</p><p>I rise to firstly place clearly on the record that the coalition vehemently disagrees with the Greens about the need for caps on international students studying in Australia. I also have real issue with the way you've characterised the Liberals, Senator Faruqi—the reference of the word 'racist' is appalling—and I would ask, through you, Chair, that you consider withdrawing such a slur on the Liberal Party, because we have a very proud history of supporting international education in this country. We have a very a proud history of supporting a great multicultural country, but the capping of foreign student numbers is critical to fixing Labor's immigration chaos.</p><p>Since Labor was elected, the number of foreign students has increased from 336,000 in March 2022 to well over 800,000. This has fuelled a housing crisis, particularly in large metropolitan centres. As we heard during our Senate inquiry into the bill, 500,000 foreign students have been forced into the private rental market. In the suburb of Glebe, near the University of Sydney, where foreign students now number 52 per cent of all students, rents have gone up by 17 per cent in just 12 months. In Clayton, which is the home of Monash University, rents are up a staggering 20 per cent in 12 months. By bringing in 1.6 million migrants into Australia over five years, Labor's 'big Australia' policy has completely failed to safeguard the national interest, including the right to find an affordable home, see a doctor and access other essential services.</p><p>But I will agree with the Greens on this. The government has made a complete mess of its proposal to cap international student numbers, and I am disgusted. I share Senator Faruqi's disgust with the way in which the government has treated this parliament and the higher education sector. In the Senate hearings that we have had into the bill, the government has done everything it possibly can to keep the actual student caps provided to each higher education and VET provider a secret. Even last Friday, after we said very strongly that we opposed the way the government was treating the parliament and the sector, they were still keeping all the separate international student caps secret from the Senate committee. That is completely unacceptable. Labor has made a real mockery of the Senate inquiry process. What we do know is that, of the provider caps that have now been given to the sector, the total allocation for universities has gone backwards by one per cent. But we understand that across the private higher education and VET sectors it has gone back by 28 per cent. So we are seeing gross discrimination at play.</p><p>The minister, when he announced these caps, said this was a win for the regions. We've now learned, through the Senate inquiry, that this is not a win for the regions. A number of regional universities have done very badly out of these caps, because the government have basically gone about imposing these caps without any transparency and have been doing deals behind closed doors.</p><p>We are, as a committee, seeking to extend the reporting date of the committee. We're also seeking to reopen submissions and have another public hearing, because the way the government is treating this whole issue, including the sector, is absolutely not good enough.</p><p>The coalition will implement a hard cap on the international student program in consultation with the higher education sector, which is what has been missing. International students contribute to the Australian economy. They provide valuable labour by working in casual and part-time jobs. However, the vast majority of international students are housed off-campus. This is placing enormous pressure on housing. There is a housing crisis courtesy of this government. That is not good enough. We need a system that manages this properly. <i>(Time expired)</i></p> <p class="speaker">Louise Pratt</p><p>We have, in the international education sector, an economic and social contribution to our nation that is incredibly important. It's important for those students in their future lives abroad and indeed for those who might progress to migrating to Australia. But we are progressing reforms, as a government, to strengthen the integrity and sustainability of international education in our nation.</p><p>I've got many dear friends all over the world who I met as international students, and they form such a firm foundation for government-to-government and community-to-community relationships right around the world. But, following the pandemic, when international students were in grave strife, often trapped without incomes et cetera, we had to work hard to come back from that. But international students have indeed voted with confidence in Australian education and have come back stronger than anyone expected. We have about 10 per cent more in our universities and almost 50 per cent more in our VET sector. But when we look at what the government is actually doing now—at the new limits that have been set out transparently to university institutions, for example—we'll see 23 of our 38 universities set above the 2023 student numbers and, for 34 of the 38 universities, above the levels of student numbers that they had in 2019.</p><p>What we don't want to see is what has happened, which is that the growth of the sector post the COVID pandemic has lured back unscrupulous providers, who are motivated by profit, not quality. It has lured students to Australia who seek to work in Australia, not to study. We are as a government determined to commit ourselves and continue to remain committed to the integrity of the sector, strengthening the sector and ensuring it retains and maintains a social licence so that we can confidently invite international students here and know that they will be welcome. We need this experience to benefit students and our partners overseas but also Australians. We need reform to ensure sustainable growth into the future. So, subject to the passage of legislation before the Senate, we are intending to set a national planning level for overseas student commencements at a rate of 270,000 for the calendar year of 2025.</p><p>The NPL will support a managed international education system designed to grow sustainably over time. We can't have a system of international education that sets housing economies and employment markets completely out of whack. We need to be careful about how we balance higher education and VET sectors, for example. For publicly funded universities, the managed-growth approach, in aggregate, will result in around 145,000 new overseas student commencements in 2025, which is very close to last year's number. For other providers, in aggregate, their new overseas student commencements in 2025 will be around 30,000. That is about the same as student numbers were before the pandemic. That is where they should be, because that is where a quality VET service to international students was seen. We've got to cut out sham providers and people seeking to come to Australia simply to access the labour market. We will, though, see around— <i>(Time expired)</i></p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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