With just months until Australia’s federal election – though the exact date remains unknown – Opposition Senator Sarah Henderson took the stage in Canberra, addressing university leaders gathered at the Universities Australia Solutions Summit.
Henderson reinforced the party’s position that “Australian students must come first”, as she reminded attendees of party leader Peter Dutton’s pledge to deliver tougher international student caps than what is sought by the current government.
According to Henderson, this cap would be focused on “excessive numbers of foreign students in metropolitan cities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney where two thirds of foreign students live and study”.
“But our approach will ensure you have long term certainty, underpinned with proper consultation, with special consideration for the regions where foreign students are integral to local economies,” she told universities.
Henderson was a vocal critic of the government throughout Senate hearings which hit the headlines in 2024 as the Albanese government sought to pass legislation which would cap international enrolments at provider level. The bill remains parked in Senate after it was blocked by the Coalition who said it did not go far enough to cut international student numbers.
“In the two years since I first addressed your summit, we expected bumps along the road. But this has been one wild ride. I don’t think anyone could have imagined what was to come – the Albanese government lurching from crisis to crisis leaving higher education providers in considerable turmoil,” said Henderson.
“Regrettably, the government opened the floodgates to record levels of international students, fuelling the housing crisis, and then hit the sector with a botched student cap, which has caused real damage to regional universities.”
Henderson highlighted Australia’s record 849,000 international students – an 8.3% rise since December 2023 – warning of growing pressure on housing, infrastructure, and services. However, research suggests international students are unfairly blamed for the country’s housing crisis.
“The uncontrolled surge of international students is a direct result of Labor’s ‘Big Australia’ policy – an immigration mess,” she continued.
The uncontrolled surge of international students is a direct result of Labor’s ‘Big Australia’ policy – an immigration mess
Sarah Henderson, shadow education minister
“This of course is driving the rivers of gold at some members of the Group of Eight – but the regional universities continue to suffer from Ministerial Direction 107 and now 111,” she said, referencing new visa processing directive Ministerial Direction 111 which replaced MD 107 in December.
A day earlier, education minister Jason Clare addressed conference attendees, defending MD 111, which sees departmental officials prioritising student visas for each provider until they reach 80% of their cap figure, also known as their net overseas student commencement number. These numbers were handed down under the government’s thwarted National Planning Level for 2025.
“At one Group of Eight university, where foreign student revenue was $1.45 billion in 2023, international students comprise 50% of the total student population. The proportion of foreign students is frequently much higher in post-graduate courses,” said Henderson.
“For too long, universities have relied on a business model which yielded them eye watering revenues which are not sustainable or in line with expectations of the Australian community. We need to get the balance right. Every country has a responsibility to run its migration program in the national interest,” she added.
On the same day as Henderson addressed universities, Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy, speaking at the National Press Club of Australia, reminded parliamentarians that international education is Australia’s biggest export outside of mining.
“It’s an additive industry, not an extractive one. It pays for essential services. It supports 250,000 jobs. It funds vital university research and critically – it subsidises the education of Australian students,” he said.
“This means Australian taxpayers pay less. That’s why it’s crazy to even think about curtailing it.
“Let’s also not forget what international students add to our workforce and our communities. They work in the hospitality, retail, tourism and health sectors while they study. And they strengthen Australia’s cultural fabric and links to the outside world.”
Sheehy noted that the Reserve Bank of Australia recently warned that federal policies to limit international students are weakening education exports.
“International education should be above politics. Instead, we’re told that all of this is worth less than a few votes at the ballot box. That’s a very bitter pill to swallow,” he said.
