Heidi Murphy: I was reading today that there is a push, a decision being made to slow down the visa processing for international students once applications reach their target levels that the government set for each university. So the federal government was trying to reduce international student numbers. A lot of pushback from the industry, there was a lot of pushback from the state of Victoria, actually, as well. And so the government had to abandon those plans. They weren’t able to put a cap on students. So instead, going the sneaky way around and slowing down the visa processing. Joining me on the line is Sarah Henderson, the Shadow Minister for Education. Sarah, thanks for your time this afternoon.
Senator Henderson: Heidi, great to join you.
Heidi Murphy: Is this as sneaky as it sounds?
Senator Henderson: Well, this is also incompetent and we’ve seen under this incompetent Labor government, its big Australia policy, create an absolute immigration mess. And of course, that is due to the fact that thousands upon thousands of international students are flooding this country with no regard for the fact that this is helping to fuel the housing crisis, with no regard for the services that Australians need to access. It’s absolutely out of control, and now we’ve just seen data being released by the Department of Education confirming there are more than a million foreign students who’ve enrolled in a course in the last 12 months, nearly half a million students are actually coming to this country and starting in a new course. It is just completely out of control and this is just more chaos from the government.
Heidi Murphy: So does this mean you back the changes that are being made today, if they slow things down a bit?
Senator Henderson: Not at all, because the ministerial direction, essentially, is tied to Labor’s flawed student caps scheme. Now the student cap, which is the cap that we rejected is at 270,000 but it doesn’t include about another, we think 130,000 foreign students who are exempt from the scheme. So it’s an absolute mess. And what it’s doing, Heidi, is driving enormous numbers of students into the large, prestigious universities, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney. Now that’s placing enormous pressure on rents, on access to housing. Of course, it’s the rivers of gold for the likes of Melbourne Uni and Sydney Uni. I think Sydney University made nearly $1.5 billion from international students last year, and it’s a complete and utter mess. And so our position very firmly is that we will announce a much tougher student cap, which gets the balance right, which respects the fact that universities are primarily in place to educate Australian students, but of course, one that will fix Labor’s immigration mess.
Heidi Murphy: You’ll get a fair pushback from the university sector and from states like Victoria. I mean, I was in India with the premier in what was it, August, September, and the big focus of that push was to reassure the Indian community that their international students are most welcome here, and that, in fact, it’s an enormous boom for particularly our economy in this state. There are some upsides, right?
Senator Henderson: Look, international students are important, there is no doubt about this. But in recent years, they have really got out of control and now at universities like the University of Sydney, Heidi, more than 50 per cent of all students are international. So that’s having an enormous impact on the access to housing, on access to services, and of course, on educational outcomes. But it’s all part of Labor’s failure to manage our migration program in the national interest. It really is out of control, Labor’s big Australia policy, and we’ve got to get the balance right. And we certainly do not have the balance right under this government and that’s why we are determined to do so.
Heidi Murphy: Will this updated ministerial direction on visa processing achieve anything?
Senator Henderson: It will continue to drive very large numbers of foreign students into the large, metropolitan, prestigious universities.
Heidi Murphy: Yes, sorry I mean, will it mean anything to the overall numbers coming in? Will it affect that at all?
Senator Henderson: No. In fact, it’s even more chaos because it’s an open-slather approach. The government has put no number whatsoever on the number of international students coming into the country. It hasn’t had the courage to do that. It certainly does have the powers to do that, that the Minister for Home Affairs certainly has the power to issue or decline student visas, but it’s open slather. It’s tied to a very flawed student cap scheme. And of course, there’s also no certainty for our higher education institutions as well, including our universities. So it’s just a real mess and it just goes to show that this government is not up to the job of managing our migration program, particularly during a housing crisis and Labor’s cost of living crisis.
Heidi Murphy: Just on migration, what is the what is the Coalition’s ideal number? I think was it 160,000?
Senator Henderson: So we have very firmly made it clear that we will reduce the permanent intake to 140,000 in year one and year two, and then bring that up gradually to 150,000 and 160,000. Labor’s target is 185,000 but we have seen again that Labor has missed its migration target and that was confirmed yesterday in MYEFO, Heidi, so they have raised their net overseas migration forecast by 80,000 migrants, up from 260,000 to 340,000. So they have missed two of their targets, very likely to miss their third target. And as I say, it is just more confirmation that Australians cannot have confidence in Labor to run the migration program with any sort of confidence. They cannot manage migration and of course, that is really adding very much to the housing and cost of living crisis.
Heidi Murphy: So that is still the current target? I thought Peter Dutton had walked some of that back and said there’d be a better answer or a more fulsome answer after the election?
Senator Henderson: So that is permanent migration. The numbers I’ve just read out you are permanent migration but as I say, yesterday in MYEFO, Labor has confirmed that they have again, blown out their net overseas migration numbers.
Heidi Murphy: Right, right. But I’m just making clear what the Coalition’s cap will be. Is that 140,000 a year?
Senator Henderson: That is the permanent intake that we have committed, 140,000 in year one and year two.
Heidi Murphy: Alright. Sarah Henderson, thank you. Oh wait, actually, before you go, just a quick question. How do you think the current the Liberal Party is going currently in Victoria?
Senator Henderson: Well I think the Liberal Party is doing very well because we have seen this incomprehensibly incompetent state Labor government rack up record debt. We have seen ongoing chaos, ongoing mismanagement. Jacinta Allan and her motley crew are driving this state off the edge of a cliff. We cannot wait to get rid of this state Labor government. It is an absolute disgrace. And so we have another two years before the state election, but I would call on every Victorian, please, whatever you can, please, vote against this terrible, shocking Labor government.
Heidi Murphy: Would you agree it’s a problem to have a premier and a treasurer who live outside of the capital city?
Senator Henderson: Well as a regional Victorian myself, I don’t. I think we have, of course, many regional and rural members of parliament and senators in the Parliament, and I think that really is not the issue. What the issue is for me, and I think for all Victorians, is that we are being governed by a completely incompetent government that is literally ruining the lives of Victorians. Businesses are fleeing. Families can barely pay the bills. And of course, that is made worse by the Albanese government’s cost of living crisis as well. We have become a national embarrassment in Victoria as a result of being governed by federal Labor and state Labor. And I really hope and trust that every single Victorian gets rid of Labor, both federally, and then, of course, in 2026 in the state election.
Heidi Murphy: I appreciate you are a federal MP and I am asking about state issues here but some of those words, I think, could be applied to the state opposition, currently. They’re certainly giving that impression of incompetence or embarrassment, surely. I mean, there’s a meeting tomorrow, there’s a party room meeting tomorrow. There’s distractions all over the place, all week.
Senator Henderson: Yes, look, there is obviously some internal issues that are being worked through in the Victorian Liberal Party. But first and foremost, Victorians are sitting at home right now wondering how they pay their bills, wondering how they put food on the table, you know, contemplating ridiculous policies like the gas ban, looking at whether they can keep the doors open of their local business. It is just absolutely incomprehensible the damage that Victorian Labor has done, compounded by the Albanese Labor government. And so, as I say, we cannot afford to have Labor governing this state and frankly, governing this country, any more than we do already. That is why it is incredibly important to vote Anthony Albanese out in the next coming months, whenever the election will be, and of course, to get rid of Jacinta Allan and Victorian Labor.