NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says it was a ‘mistake’ to tell international students to leave Australia during pandemic

A big “mistake” by Scott Morrison at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic has come back to haunt Australia two years later.

The NSW Premier says it was a “mistake” to ask international students to leave Australia during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

His comments came as the country grapples with shortages of skilled workers, an issue that was discussed during a jobs summit in Canberra on Friday.

Dominic Perrottet told Sky News it would be “arrogant” to just assume international students would come back on their own and said proactive measures were needed to lure them back to Australia.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says it will be ‘arrogant’ to assume international students will choose to come back to Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“There's a lot of work we have to do, reputationally, to attract people into the country with the skills that we need,” he said.

Mr Perrottet applauded announcements at the summit by federal ministers that migration caps would be increased and visa application backlogs cleared.

“First things first, the backlog needs to be removed,” he said.

“Secondly … we can't have the arrogance to sit here and think that people just want to come to Australia, we’re competing with countries around the world.

“I think some of the changes they‘ve made today, to fast-track permanency, I think will go a long way to doing that.”

Scott Morrison asked international students to consider leaving Australia in 2020. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA NewsWwire

Former prime minister Scott Morrison said in April 2020 tourists and international students should consider going back to where they came from because financial support would be prioritised for Australians.

“Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximise the economic supports that we have,” he said at the time.

The Australian coronavirus pandemic was then in its second month and many industries had been shut down to halt the spread of Covid-19.

Asked on Friday if it had been a mistake to tell international students to leave, Mr Perrottet answered “yes”.

“I don't think we should have asked them to leave,” he said.