Peter Dutton reveals plan to cap foreign students and change visas if the Coalition wins the election
Peter Dutton has defended his decision to oppose Labor’s attempt to slash foreign student numbers, saying the Coalition’s plan will ease the housing crisis. VOTE IN OUR POLL
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Exclusive: Foreign student intakes at universities, VET and the higher education sector would be cut by 80,000 under a Coalition plan aimed at freeing up housing and rentals.
The move – a key part of Peter Dutton’s soon-to-be-released immigration policy – will result in the number of new international students being reduced from a high of 320,000 in 2023 to around 240,000.
Speaking on the outskirts of Melbourne on Sunday morning, Mr Dutton defended his decision to oppose Labor’s attempts to slash international student numbers as he unveils his own cuts that will bring in 30,000 fewer students.
The Opposition leader claimed the Albanese government’s 270,000 cap last year was not a plan, saying his policy would tackle the pressures and soaring costs of housing.
“Their plan was no plan at all,” he said.
“Every number that they projected has flown out by hundreds of thousands.”
Mr Dutton refused to weigh in when asked if it was worth delaying a reduction in international student numbers for a year because the Coalition and the Greens rejected Labor’s proposal.
He did not reveal if the Coalition had modelling to show its 240,000 student cap would reduce rental pressure or how it would impact the tertiary sector.
“If you’ve got 42 international students for every one student unit being built that has a huge impact, and Australians know it,” Mr Dutton said.
“When you look at the price of the cost of rents over the last couple of years, they’ve skyrocketed under this government, and in big part that’s been because of Mr Albanese’s big Australia policy.”
To achieve the reduction at public universities, the Coalition will apply a percentage cap from next year to the share of new foreign student intakes.
The cap is expected to be around 25 per cent but will be determined in government with access to the latest data and in consultation with the sector.
Based on 2023 enrolments data, the Coalition expects the measure will overwhelmingly affect metropolitan – especially Group of Eight universities – where pressure on housing and infrastructure is most acute.
The Coalition declares its plan will mean there will be “at most” 115,000 overseas student commencements each year at publicly funded universities with 125,000 in the VET, private university and non-university higher education sectors.
This means a reduction of more than 80,000 in annual new overseas student commencements compared with 2023 levels.
It also represents at least 30,000 less new overseas student commencements each year compared to Labor’s 2025 allocation, which was designed to favour metropolitan universities.
Student visa application charges will also rise to $5,000 for Group of Eight universities and $2,500 for remaining international students.
A new charge of $2,500 will be introduced for students who wish to change education providers, while the Coalition will also conduct a review of the Temporary Graduate Visas (subclass 485) to address the misuse of post-study work arrangements as a way to gain access to the Australian labour market and as a pathway to permanent migration.
Mr Dutton has previously declared that migration needs to come down to free up houses.
However, the Liberal leader last year blocked attempts by Labor to cap foreign students in Australia, which would have limited the number to 270,000.
In his budget reply, Mr Dutton said he would putting forward his own plan to reduce “excessive numbers of foreign students studying at metropolitan universities” to relieve stress “on rental markets in our major cities”.
Unveiling the policy to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Dutton declared a Coalition government would “restore the dream” of home ownership by cutting migration “and starting a house building boom”.
“My absolute priority is to get this housing mess sorted out,” he said.
“I don’t want young Australians locked out of the property market – or having to rely on the bank of mum and dad. I want to see more Australians in homes.
“Under Labor, migration has, and will continue to put pressure on housing, infrastructure and services. A Coalition government will restore the dream of home ownership by cutting migration and starting a house building boom.”
Both leaders entered the second week of the election campaign their own “missteps” this week – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tripping off a stage – he said he “stepped back one step” – and Mr Dutton on Saturday leaving a cameraman bloodied after a football he kicked went awry.
The incident occurred while he was practising kicks with AFL stars in Darwin where he had been making a funding announcement for the local football club.
With major cities facing a critical housing shortage, immigration levels are a key issue for both parties.
The Coalition has accused Labor of creating an unsustainable migration program, with one million new migrants in 2 years – an intake it claims has occurred without planning for the required housing or infrastructure.
The number of international students studying in Australia has soared by 65 per cent, from nearly 520,000 international students in the year to the last election, to more than 850,000.
The Coalition claims in some courses at Australian universities, up to 80 per cent of students are international students.
Defending his government’s record at the Future Western Sydney summit on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Labor had “taken good action” to get migration numbers down.
During a Q&A session with The Daily Telegraph’s editor Ben English, Mr Albanese noted how migration had fallen “by 31 per cent” in the last year.
“From a level which was always going to be high when borders were closed for years,” he said.
The Coalition is expected to seize on the cost-of-living crisis as part of its yet-to-be-revealed immigration policy, claiming the current migration levels were eroding living standards, overburdening infrastructure as well as exacerbating housing shortages.
The student policy follows an earlier announcement to implement a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes to further free up more homes.
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Originally published as Peter Dutton reveals plan to cap foreign students and change visas if the Coalition wins the election
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