International student caps slammed by Greens, Coalition as ‘chaotic’ quick fix

Education Minister Jason Clare would be forced to consult universities before capping international student numbers, and would not be allowed to limit enrolments at a course level, under the recommendations of an inquiry into the government’s contentious foreign students laws.

But the bill – which has been slammed by higher education providers who claim it will hurt their bottom lines and the economy – should otherwise pass, the inquiry’s final report said, as the Coalition failed to put forward any amendments despite saying it was full of “incompetency, secrecy, uncertainty and unfairness”.

Education Minister Jason ClareCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

Clare alarmed the higher education sector earlier this year when he announced new caps to return international student numbers to pre-pandemic levels and restore integrity to private colleges. Each provider received its own numbers – with enrolments capped at 270,000 across the industry – but Clare did not set course-level caps, although the legislation gives him that power.

The bill was held up in a Senate inquiry for five months before Tuesday night’s report was handed down. Labor senator Tony Sheldon, the committee chair, said it was time for the Coalition to “stop delaying and get on board with cleaning up their mess” after it delayed the inquiry three times.

“Despite these delays and extensions, it’s notable that the Opposition couldn’t come up with a single recommendation for how they think the bill should be improved. For months, they’ve been talking out of both sides of their mouth on this bill. The Liberals and Nationals complained that the caps were too harsh, while at the same time promising to cut numbers even further,” he said.

“Peter Dutton’s comments calling international students the new ‘boat people’ were a new low in the debate about the higher education sector. The sector needs to return to sustainable levels of international enrolments to ensure that both international and domestic students are getting the quality education they deserve.”

Opposition senators said the bill was flawed because it favoured prestigious universities with higher caps than regional or mid-tier institutions and discriminated against private vocational education providers. However, they did not oppose the committee’s report.

The Greens, on the other hand, called to reject the bill, saying it was migration policy in disguise and a “poorly thought-through and chaotic plan” that scapegoated international students for a housing crisis they did not create. They said it would damage Australia’s reputation while leading to job losses.

This means the government is relying on the Coalition to pass the legislation. Crossbench senator David Pocock said he was concerned the bill was a “knee-jerk reaction” to fix a political problem for the government.

Clare said he was open to the committee’s recommendations. “In particular, the one [about] whether you set caps for courses. I’ve described that in the past as a reserve power, but we’ll look carefully at the recommendations of that report,” he said.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.