E&OE

HOST: The university sector is warning a sizeable chunk of an estimated $55 billion generated for the nation’s economy could be at risk if the Coalition’s proposed migration changes were introduced. For more, we’re joined by Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy. G’day, Luke. How are you?

LUKE SHEEHY: Good morning.

HOST: Why would it have a damaging impact? What would it be?

LUKE SHEEHY: Every international student that comes to this country provides essential economic support for Australia. Our estimation is that each student provides around $70,000 of economic stimulus to the country each and every year that they’re here. If we continue with this sledgehammer approach from both the Coalition and the government on this vitally important world success story that is international education in this country, we’ll see not only economic damage to Australia’s economy, but some substantial damage to our universities.

HOST: We’ve heard from a number of politicians in recent months who have been saying things like university courses are not a conduit for education, but a conduit to citizenship. Do you see any evidence of that?

LUKE SHEEHY: Nearly 80 per cent of our students leave the country after they’ve had their education experience at our universities. We are really lucky in this country that students from over 140 countries choose Australia for their destination for a world-class education. Education is a great Australian export, and our international education is a great success story. I’m really proud of the fact that our universities teach so many students. It enlivens our classroom experience for Australians and, importantly, makes us friends around the world. I’ve had the great privilege of meeting people right across the world, and particularly in this region, who’ve benefitted from an education in Australia. They take those relationships and personal connections with them for the rest of their lives. We don’t want to damage that with unpredictable migration policy settings from both sides of politics.

HOST: Over the years, universities have certainly complained about restrictions on international students, that they need more. Some people might be saying universities are just crying poor. What do you say to them?

LUKE SHEEHY: Many of our universities are still in budget deficit coming out of the long tale of COVID. I see that pain every day, particularly in regional Australia. International students and the fees that they pay underpin the operations of our universities and, importantly, they help subsidise the education for nearly a million Australian students – a million Australian students that will be our future teachers, nurses, engineers and doctors. Without international student money coming through to our system, we would have a worse experience for Australian students. Fundamentally, our universities are underfunded by the Commonwealth. The Job-ready Graduates Package funding is still in place – the Morrison era Coalition policy that paradoxically makes students in an arts and humanities degree pay more than $57,000 for a degree in coming years, while it rips nearly a billion dollars each and every year out of our system. We need international students to support the work that Australian universities do for Australians and Australia.

HOST: This debate is really centred around housing and that is because both major parties say that if they reduce these numbers, then there’ll be less pressure on rent, particularly in areas around universities, and less pressure on housing overall. This is not a new issue. For a very, very long time, universities have been urged to build more student accommodations, start looking after these people when they arrive. Is this something that your sector should have done more of over the past decade or so?

LUKE SHEEHY: There is a fundamentally team Australia moment that we need to build more housing in this country, not only for international students, of course, but for Australians who want to get into the housing market. We know that Australia has a construction and supply problem. International students only make up around 6 per cent of the private rental market. If you take a sledgehammer to this sector, you’re not going to solve the housing crisis.

HOST: They mean around universities. So, of course, universities aren’t spread out equally around the country. So, in those particular areas, should universities have been building more student accommodation just to alleviate the pressure on that private market. Would we be having this debate if that had happened?

LUKE SHEEHY: One of the really sad realities about the COVID period is that many of our universities, particularly in metropolitan areas, had to sell their own housing stock to keep their budgets afloat. Universities are looking at ways that they can invest in the housing market and partnering with the private sector. There are a lot of barriers to that success. Construction workers as one, also state and territory taxes are a barrier. But we want to make sure we do our bit in this housing construction period to serve not only our international students, but Australian students that want to get a world class education and live near and around their campus while they do it.

HOST: Okay. Luke Sheehy, thanks for coming on.

LUKE SHEEHY: Thanks for having me.

ENDS