Wednesday, 28 August 2024

 Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:16): Yesterday the federal government made the ludicrous decision to cap international student numbers from January of next year. ‘Naive’, ‘short sighted’ and ‘fundamentally destructive’ may be the most fitting words to describe yesterday’s announcement. I will not sugar-coat it. These caps will have a significant impact on the Victorian economy. I echo the words of Duncan Maskell, the vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, who said:

The cap on international students will have detrimental consequences for our University, the higher education sector generally, and the nation for years to come.

Some things are just common sense, and not capping the state’s biggest export is one of them.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bulleen is warned.

Tim PALLAS: In Victoria international students generated about $14.8 billion in export revenue in 2023 and supported around 63,000 jobs. These changes put at risk almost $5 billion of revenue and some 12,000 jobs. Since 2020 the state has invested almost $150 million into our international education sector. We hold 30 per cent of the nation’s market share when it comes to international students. In enrolments across public and private universities, TAFEs and private colleges just this year, Melbourne was again named Australia’s best student city and the fifth best student city in the world. The Commonwealth’s cap threatens all of this. A cap on international students is a cap on economic growth, a cap on jobs and a cap on business investment, particularly in the inner city, where traders rely on international students to provide a key workforce and consumer base. The message the cap sends to international students is that there is a limit to their welcome here. This needs to be changed.