‘What the hell’: Dutton lashed for Bill block

Jason Clare has lashed out at Peter Dutton after the opposition said it would join the Greens in blocking a government Bill capping international students.

The Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 seeks to cap new international enrolments at 270,000 in 2025 and give extra powers to the Education Minister to interfere with courses.

The Education Minister said on Tuesday the Coalition’s decision was “just bizarre”.

“I think Australians are waking up this morning thinking, ‘What the hell is going on in the Liberal Party? What’s going on in Peter Dutton’s brain?’” Mr Clare said.

“If he’s going to make a bad decision like this, that’s all about politics, not about controlling migration, then he needs to front the cameras here and answer the tough questions.”

The government has justified its plan by blaming international students in part for the rental crisis hitting Australia’s major cities and saying it needs to weed out dodgy operators in the sector.

But the legislation has been largely opposed by the tertiary education providers.

The sector is worth nearly $50bn to Australia’s economy.

Though, with international students filling jobs right around the country, their contributions to Australia’s economy extend far beyond visa and study fees.

Hospitality industry leaders also hit out at the government last year after it reintroduced hour caps for overseas students, limiting them to just 48 hours of work a fortnight.

Senior Coalition senator Jane Hume said earlier that the opposition wanted to impose caps on international students, but that it had to happen in a way that dealt “directly with the education providers”.

“We don’t feel that there’s been any adequate consultation, particularly with those private providers or regional universities, and they are so important in our education system and they’re an important place for international students as well,” Senator Hume told the ABC.

“These caps that the government want to place on international students are just a part of a very piecemeal approach that really does nothing to address the structural problems that the government has made by itself, on its own.”