Sarah Henderson urges Coalition to back her migration reforms after Peter Dutton defeat
Dumped Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson has crossed the floor to push migration cuts, declaring she was on the ‘right side of history’ despite party opposition.
Liberal backbencher Sarah Henderson is pushing for the Coalition to join her on the “right side of history” by supporting her proposed migration cuts after Peter Dutton fumbled the policy before the election.
As Sussan Ley prepares to unveil her migration policy ahead of Christmas, forgoing hard targets in favour of “directions and principles”, Senator Henderson has made a bid to reclaim ground in the partyroom with a plan to cap international student numbers at 25 per cent for public universities.
The call comes amid a clash between party powerbrokers over whether the Coalition should pursue deep cuts to net overseas migration. However, the former frontbencher, who the Opposition Leader dumped as education spokeswoman following the election, crossed the floor in the Senate last week with fellow ousted conservative Jacinta Nampijinpa-Price when she moved two amendments to education laws.
They were joined by One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts as the only senators to support the changes, which sought to apply a fixed 25 per cent cap on overseas commencements at public universities relative to the total cohort, alongside an amendment that would link visas to specific courses and institutions to prevent visa jumping.
The reforms attempted to put meat on the bones of a Coalition migration policy after Ms Ley flagged a crackdown on international students would be a key pillar of her position on the issue.
“I am disappointed I needed to cross the floor to move my amendments, but I am determined to prosecute good policy in the national interest,” Senator Henderson told The Australian.
“Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and I may have been sitting on the wrong side of the chamber, but I believe we were on the right side of history.”
The declaration marks Senator Henderson’s strongest pitch yet for her colleagues to back her after Mr Dutton struggled to sell her plan to rein in overseas student numbers during the election campaign. Mr Dutton’s missteps in selling the plan led to one of the Coalition’s key policy defeats from which it has struggled to bounce back, out of fear that cuts could lead to skilled worker shortages, an economic deficit and a further loss of votes in migrant communities.
Attempts to hash out the new migration platform have failed to allay concerns. Moderate powerbroker Andrew Bragg has argued cuts would not fix the housing crisis at the heart of the debate, in direct opposition to leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie, who quit the frontbench over the issue.
Senator Henderson presented her policy as a middle ground which would exempt dual sector regional universities from the student cap, while providing an incentive for institutions to lift their quotas from 25 to 30 per cent if they deliver additional student accommodation places as a lever to ease pressure on the rental market. In making her pitch, Senator Henderson pointed to the Group of Eight, led by the University of Sydney and UNSW, where up to 51 per cent of students are from overseas.
The migration proposal the Coalition took to the election sought to lower “foreign student commencements at public universities” by 30,000, which The Australian understands Senator Henderson is seeking to revive through her proposed cap.
In October, the Albanese government increased its total international student commencement number by 25,000 to 295,000 for 2026.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout