Coalition pledge to cut repeat student visa ‘rort’

The Coalition says it will address rorts in the migration system by increasing visa fees for foreigners who change education providers.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Coalition says it will address “rorts” in the migration system allowing international students to extend their stay by increasing visa fees for foreigners who change education providers.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said he would target the 80,000 people who are on at least their third student visa by raising the application fee, as part of a suite of “major policy changes” to bring net migration down to 160,000 a year.

“Under Labor there are 80,000 student visa holders who are on to their third student visa or more,” Mr Tehan writes in The Australian. “Some are on an eighth, ninth or 10th student visa, as a backdoor way to stay in Australia to work. We will end these sorts of rorts.”

There were 132 non-citizens living in Australia on their 10th student visa or more, 156 on their ninth and 282 on their eighth visa at the start of the financial year, the Department of Home Affairs has revealed.

Anthony Albanese said on Thursday his government would bring migration down in a more considered way than Peter Dutton. “On migration, we’ve been very clear that we are going to get the numbers down and that compares favourably with the Coalition’s migration policy confusion that we’ve seen in recent days,” the Prime Minister said.

“We saw the Leader of the Opposition commit to cutting overseas migration to 160,000 in the first year of a Coalition government, then the shadow treasurer said they would cut the number by 25 per cent over three years to 195,000.

“The shadow environment minister (Jonathan Duniam) said the number would be 140,000 and Senator (James) Paterson said they would reduce migration by just a little bit.”

The Coalition has vowed to slash international student numbers at metropolitan universities by placing a cap on overseas enrolments, with Mr Tehan declaring the current situation made it nearly impossible to rent in nearby suburbs.

“That’s why the Coalition will increase student visa charges and work with tertiary education providers, especially the major metropolitan universities, to engineer an orderly decline in the number of foreign students in Australia,” he said.

Mr Tehan said the proposed changes to the international education sector, as well as cutting the refugee program from 20,000 people to 13,750 a year and lowering permanent migration to 140,000 would lower net migration.

He said the Coalition goal to lower net migration to 160,000 in its first year in office compared to Labor’s prediction of 255,000 in 2025-26 would free up 40,000 homes. “Immigrants themselves are not to blame for record migration or the housing crisis; that is Labor’s fault for bringing people in without ensuring we have the housing to handle them,” he said. “Now because of Labor’ rec­ord migration intake, urgent ­action is needed to alleviate the housing crisis, and take pressure off infrastructure and services.”

He also pledged the changes to the migration system would not impact the supply of workers in vital industries such as the construction sector, hitting back at criticism that the plan to lower migration would reduce the number of skilled workers.