Joint media release
Shadow Minister for Education, Senator the Hon Sarah Henderson
Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Hon Dan Tehan MP
Today’s announcement on international student caps is the result of Labor’s immigration mess which has placed unprecedented cost-of-living and housing pressures on Australians.
Under Labor’s Big Australia, the number of foreign students coming to the country has more than doubled.
This mismanagement of one of our most important exports is a mess of Labor’s own making and it’s taken far too long for Labor to wake up.
As we heard at the senate inquiry in Sydney yesterday, 500,000 international students have been forced into the private rental market.
While the Coalition welcomes student caps, we will examine the detail of today’s announcement.
Labor also needs to explain how its policy will reduce net migration and take pressure off the housing crisis?
We remain deeply concerned about the severe economic damage Labor has inflicted on regional and smaller universities, as well as private higher education providers, as a result of Ministerial Direction 107.
The Albanese government has treated the regions with contempt while looking after the Group of Eight universities where student visa approvals increased this year by 16 per cent. At the University of Sydney for instance, 50 per cent of students are now international.
It is shameful that Education Minister Jason Clare avoided so much scrutiny by keeping this announcement secret until today. This is another example of Labor failing the transparency test.