Better Cities: Perth urged to attract overseas students

Perth must do more to attract interntional students as it adjusts to the end of the construction phase of the resources boom.

From left, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti, state member for Perth John Carey, City of Perth CEO Marion Fulker, and academic Dr Julian Bolleter at the Better Cities lunch in Perth. Picture: Colin Murty

Perth must do more to attract international students as it adjusts to the end of the construction phase of a phenomenal resources boom, an organisation of business and community leaders warned.

Marion Fulker, chief executive of the Committee for Perth, said mining would continue to play a “very significant part” in the West Australian economy but there were lessons to be learned from what the mining sector did after the slowdown began in 2014.

“I think the interesting thing about the mining era going from boom to bust is they had to make more with less,” Ms Fulker said.

She told The Australian’s Better Cities event in Perth on Friday that WA was way behind where it should be in terms of ­attracting international students to the higher education sector.

“Melbourne and Sydney have been playing a highly competitive game while we sort of sat here and said, ‘Well, we’re a mining town, and do we really need anyone from anywhere else?’,” she said. “And now the merry-go-round’s stopped, and we’re going, ‘How come international students aren’t coming here?’ and it’s because they don’t understand that we’re open for business in the first place, or not to a great degree.’’

Ms Fulker said word of mouth often drove decisions, as did connection to family and friends, reputation, cost and connectivity. “So the way that international students describe the experience here is, ‘At an academic level, it’s perfect. You know, it’s great. But it’s a suburban experience’, and so it’s a discounting effect,” she said.

Ms Fulker’s remarks came as education agents, migration lawyers and small business owners asked the McGowan government to act swiftly to stem the flood of foreign students diverting to capital cities that still offered bonus points for graduating students to stay on as permanent residents.

Lily Chen, a migration lawyer and former state Liberal candidate spearheading an online petition, saidthere had been an estimated 32 per cent drop since March when the newly-elected McGowan government withdrew from a bonus points system under the Federal Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, or RSMS, which Ms Chen said would lead to a loss of $30 million for every 100 overseas students who leave the state.

At the Better Cities event, University of Western Australia vice chancellor Dawn Freshwater said Premier Mark McGowan and state Education Minister Sue Ellery had “real interest” in the international education portfolio.