Labor risks sending ‘wrong message’ to foreign students

Canberra risks sending foreign students the “wrong message”, the head of a leading university has warned as Labor prepares to unveil its highly anticipated migration plan.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is set to outline on Thursday how the Albanese government hopes to slash net overseas migration to 225,000 from 300,000 by the end of the 2027-28 financial year.

Ministers have kept tight-lipped but it is broadly understood temporary visas are in the firing line, with international students and working holiday visas to be slimmed despite warnings from universities and the agricultural sector.

The University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said a student visa overhaul paired with a hike in fees and refusals as well as the political rhetoric could damage Australia’s $55bn international education sector.

“We want to see the detail of what the minister finally announces today, but we are concerned that we don’t send the wrong message to the global market about Australia being a wonderful place for international students,” he told ABC radio.

“Those that come to The University of Sydney overwhelmingly go home to have an impact in their home countries, but they remain lifelong friends of Australia.

“And the great beneficiary of international students in Australia is our domestic students, our Australian students, because the funding international students bring has cross-subsidised the fees paid for domestic students, has paid for infrastructure, has helped our research capacity and lifted the global reputation of Australian universities.”

“As I said, overwhelmingly, our international students return home, they’re replaced by other international students who are only here for a period of time,” Mr Scott said.

“They make a vital economic contribution while they’re here to tourism, to hospitality, to support in the aged care sector and elsewhere.

“And we need to be very careful that headline numbers don’t send the wrong message out into the market.”

Mr Burke is scheduled to release the Albanese government’s plan at the National Press Club.

Originally published as Labor risks sending ‘wrong message’ to foreign students