E&OE
GREG JENNETT: Universities are finding themselves in a state of limbo as the government’s proposal to cap those international student numbers rattle around in the Senate. There is no guarantee on timing for its passage, but the caps are meant to come into force on New Year’s Day. So, we thought we would check in with the universities peak lobby Universities Australia, Chief Executive Luke Sheehy. We spoke to him earlier.
Luke Sheehy, it’s good to have you back on Afternoon Briefing. It’s going down to the wire now for unis, isn’t it, on the international student caps? Parliament has these two weeks remaining before the end of the year and the caps are meant to come into force on 1 January. What do you understand of the urgency the government is giving this bill that you are sweating on?
LUKE SHEEHY: Well, we have been in a bit of a battle all year Greg, with an attack on international education and international students, which has been a great success story for our country for nearly four decades. Just before Christmas last year, the then home affairs minister Claire O’Neil took a sledgehammer to international student visas with her Ministerial Determination 107. So, the damage has been done. We know in six months – this year alone – 60,000 fewer visas have been issued in higher education. That’s a $4.3 billion hit to the economy and much of that is hitting university bottom lines. So, to the bill before parliament, well that’s a matter for the parliamentarians. The damage has already been done with the sledgehammer taken to our sector this year alone.
GREG JENNETT: Okay, so noting that argument, are you making any late representations for a stay, a pause, a moratorium, and if so until when?
LUKE SHEEHY: What we want to see is a bright future for international education in this country because it helps us deliver for Australians. It supports the teaching and learning that we deliver for over a million Australians. It helps us with the research and development that we do. And so, what we want is a sector that is bright and is growing. And in terms of this bill, we want to make sure that both sides of politics recognise what they are going to do to our sector over the long run. And we need that certainty and stability. We can’t keep going with Ministerial Determination 107 which is costing $19 million a day to the Australian economy. So, the parliamentarians have a choice. Do they continue the chaos, or do they provide us some certainty? In my view, the caps aren’t great, and we have got to make sure that there are settings in place for the future of this sector beyond 2025. I have been right across this country this year to visit 38 of my 39 members and my last one I will see next week. And they are all in a world of pain. Twenty-five of my universities are in budget deficit and continue to be so. We are still recovering from the COVID pandemic. We need that certainty and stability. It is going to come through funding. It is not going to come through student caps.
GREG JENNETT: Yeah, so that financial hit is already being worn. Convert that into job losses for us Luke if you can. How many of the forecast job losses, and you are being pretty upfront about those in your testimony to the Senate, how many have happened and are directly tied to the promise or if you like the threat of student counts?
LUKE SHEEHY: Well, we know that the damage has already been done Greg with the sledgehammer taken to student visas this year, and we have calculated the risk of that as costing almost 14,000 jobs. We are already in a world of pain coming out of COVID, but also the fact that the previous Liberal National Government introduced Job Ready Graduates funding, which effectively rips nearly a billion dollars out of our sector each and every year. So, we are doing more with less. We’ve got less domestic funding and now we have got less resources and funding from the fewer international students. There is little doubt that is a direct cause for the job losses we are seeing in this sector. And I reckon that any job loss in our sector is a tragedy. University jobs are fantastic. They are often high paid and secure, and they support not only individuals but families and communities. And I don’t want to see any job losses in this sector because we need a growing higher education sector to deliver for the future challenges of this country, including transition to net zero, a Future Made in Australia, and to give Australians the opportunities for the skills they need in a future economy.
GREG JENNETT: Are you or any of the individual VCs under your umbrella, Luke, scheduling further talks as we approach this final sitting fortnight with Minister Clare’s office, or even for that matter, I suppose, the Coalition’s Sarah Henderson?
LUKE SHEEHY: Look, lots of people are making lots of representations. There are many in this sector, many vice-chancellors whose balance sheets rely on a steady flow of international students, and I am sure that they are making calls to both ministers and shadow ministers and cross benchers at this time. Our message is clear, we want a bright future for international students, and we want a strong and growing higher education sector to deliver for Australians. Does this bill cut it? Absolutely not. But we cannot see the continuation of the sledgehammer approach to student visas.
GREG JENNETT: Alright, well look, your position is very clear, Luke, what the outlook is for the Parliament, less so. I suppose we will keep across it and who knows, maybe we will have further conversations before the parliamentary year is out. Thanks so much for joining us.
LUKE SHEEHY: Thanks a lot, Greg.
ENDS
