Minister breaks ranks on international students

Federal minister Bill Shorten has broken ranks with the Albanese government on capping international students, saying they have been a “little bit” scapegoated for Australia’s housing crisis.

The government and the opposition have traded blows this week over who can take a tougher stance on students, with Labor accusing the Coalition of siding with the Greens, and the Coalition accusing Labor of not cutting international enrolments deep enough.

But Mr Shorten said on Thursday the “number of people coming to Australia” was only one part of the equation.

The former Labor leader told the ABC he backed the government’s plan to cap students but noted that might change when he leaves politics to take up the vice-chancellorship at the University of Canberra next year.

“I absolutely must make clear to people, including my colleagues, I’ll be working for the university, not for the government,” Mr Shorten said.

“That’s the team I’ll be backing then.”

Asked if he thought international students had been scapegoated for the housing crisis, he said they were.

“A little bit. I don’t think it’s all them,” Mr Shorten said.

“We need more supply. I think you find that international students put some pressure in some parts on rental markets, but we do need international students.

“It’s an important export industry.”

Indeed, the sector is worth nearly $50bn to Australia’s economy and the government’s plan to cap international students has been largely slammed by tertiary education providers.

But 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.

The caps on hours have forced students to scrape together what they can just to make rent and study fees, casting serious doubt that they would be taking up homes otherwise used by families.

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 Coalition revealed this week it would not support the Bill.

It said it would propose its own caps with even deeper cuts but stopped short of putting out a figure.

“I think what the Liberals should have done is sit down with Labor and just worked it through,” Mr Shorten said.

“But instead, I suppose in the shadow of an election where they can sniff the fumes of conflict, they’ve decided to take the weaker part for an opposition and just oppose.”

Most analysts and industry experts have long pointed to Australia’s supply-starved housing market as the core driver behind the country’s soaring housing costs, saying that governments past and present have failed to keep up with Australia’s needs.