Mark McGowan sets tough deadline for international students

Mark McGowan has been warned that international students are deserting WA following his latest backflip on student entry.

WA Premier Mark McGowan has told international students to be in Australia by Friday or they will be blocked from entering his state.

Navitas chief Scott Jones has criticised WA Premier Mark McGowan for his “confusing and inconsistent rules” on inter­national student entry and warned that students are deserting the state.

In his latest backflip on students, Mr McGowan has imposed a deadline of midnight on Friday for students to arrive in Australia if they want to enter his state to study on campus in the first semester this year.

Perth-based Navitas is one of Australia’s largest international education businesses and Mr Jones said it felt like Mr Mc­Gowan was “slamming the door” on international students. He ­accused the Premier of “backflips, impossible time frames and confusing quarantine requirements”.

The Friday midnight deadline, which allows international students who are not currently in Australia only a few days to make arrangements to fly in, is the third major change Mr McGowan has made in the past fortnight to the rules for international students to return to WA.

After committing last year to allow international students to return freely after February 5, Mr McGowan then announced on January 20 that they would be blocked, along with most others trying to enter the state, due to the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

Five days later Mr McGowan backed down, issuing a directive to open the border to internat­ional students, allowing them into WA from other states and territories, provided they were fully vaccinated and quarantined for 14 days after arrival.

But on Saturday Mr McGowan flipped again, and imposed a deadline of 12.01am on February 5 for students to be in Australia to be eligible to cross into WA. Unlike other Australian jurisdictions, international students are unable to fly into Perth directly from overseas and must transit via other states.

However, even though the ­decision has a major impact on international students, the WA government did not announce it. It was not publicly known until StudyPerth, a group of WA education institutions, posted the news on its website on Monday.

Mr Jones said that Navitas, “as a significant and proud WA business” found itself in “an incredibly embarrassing position … due to a lack of leadership shown by the WA government and the constant shifting of the goalposts by the Premier”.

The Council for International Students Australia said the new deadline was of “great concern”. CISA national president Oscar Ong said students faced limited flight availability. “It brings great confusion for international students,” he said.

International Education ­Association of Australia CEO Phil Honeywood said that “the McGowan government had an agreed plan for international education but decided to cut and run from their own plan and firm commitments”.