‘Political pawn:’ Uni boss blasts student caps

The Albanese government has been accused of using universities as a “political pawn” and “wilfully weakening” Australia’s economy and worsening the skills shortage by slapping caps on international students.

Chair of Universities Australia David Lloyd says the long-term damage of international student caps “remains to be seen,” warning the hit to Australia’s economy “won’t be pretty”.

“Using these talented individuals, who have hitched their hopes for personal advancement to an Australian wagon, as cannon fodder in a poll-driven battle over migration just damages our nation’s standing and reputation and our universities with it,” he is expected to tell the National Press Club on Wednesday.

In August, Education Minister Jason Clare announced Australia’s intake of international students would be reduced by nearly 20,000 to 270,000 for the 2025 calendar, pending the legislation passing parliament.

Under the changes, universities will be given individual caps, with major Group of Eight universities facing cuts of 27 per cent cut, and intake for regional unis increasing by 83 per cent.

While Mr Clare has defended the numbers and said universities will “have roughly” the same amount of students as last year, Prof Lloyd will accuse Labor of limiting enrolments “in a bid to neutralise the perceived political damage it is suffering from high migration rates”.

Prof Lloyd will say the caps would also worsen Australia’s skills shortages and reduce university revenue and therefore their capacity to reinvest into other operations.

He will add that “international competitor nations,” such as the UK and the US, were “standing by ready to capitalise on our poor policy decisions”.

“In wilfully weakening our economy by capping international student numbers, the government needs to consider how many businesses it is wilfully putting at risk and how much damage to the economy it is knowingly prepared to do at the very time when our economy is stalling,” he will say.

“The other real danger of using students for political gain is what we stand to lose by turning them away when we are we are in a global race for talent.”

Prof Lloyd will also use his speech to call for “bipartisan support” to boost the sector, like increasing funding for research, which he was needed now that universities had “less international student revenue to fund this important work”.

“What good is a $22.7bn investment to build a Future Made in Australia without the research and development work required to spur the growth of new industries?” he will say.

“We can’t afford to kick the can down the road, not when our productivity, economic growth and a major component of the government’s own agenda depends on this work.”

Labor’s caps have been unanimously lashed by Australia’s largest universities, with Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thompson accusing the government of “steamrollering the sector” with the unexplained numbers.

While the Coalition has supported students caps in principle, the opposition’s education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson has demanded another senate hearing into the potential legislation.