Welcome back to the Nightline tonight on Canberra Conversations with Senator Paul Scarr. We’re exploring the issues surrounding Australia’s international student intake. Right now, there’s a lot of discussion and a fair bit of concern too around international student numbers in Australia. The Albanese Government recently announced a target of 295,000international students for 2026 and that’s going to be up by 25,000 from this year’s figure. But is that level sustainable? Senator Scarr, Good Evening. We’d love to know your take on this.
Senator Scarr
Great to be with you and your listeners again. And I think you’re right that this is a really important issue.
Cheralyn Darcey
It is. Can you outline what the Coalition sees are the key risks in increasing international student intake to the 295,000 mark?
Senator Scarr
Yeah. So as you say, what they’ve done is increased the planning level from 270,000 in 2025 up to 295,000 in 2026 and that’s an increase of 25,000 international students per year. And from our perspective, the first point to note is we really do value our international students and the contribution they make to the economy of the country and the people to people relationships, but we do believe that the Labor Government needs to explain how this new target of 295,000 new enrolments, they need to explain how this will be sustainable, given that we had over 1 million course enrolments for international students in 2024 alone.
Cheralyn Darcey
Well, from your perspective, then Senator, what does a sustainable international student take intake look like for the Coalition?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think we need to do some further work on that. And the reason I say that is the announcement by the federal government at the moment is quite opaque, so we don’t really have the insight with respect to how they arrived at that number of 295,000. There’s a difference between the capacity of regions, if you look at regional universities compared to universities in our major capital cities, given the current housing supply shortages, etc. So I think we need to be able to consider the differences of approach in terms of major metropolitan city universities, as opposed to regional universities, and we need to consult with the university sector itself. So one of the things which I believe the university sector needs to be looking at is building more student accommodation, actually on their own campuses, so students, when they come to the university have that opportunity to stay on campus, or stay very close to campus, and have purpose built accommodation on the university campuses. I think that’s a really important point. I think one of the things we’ve got to remember about students who come here to study from overseas, they are visitors in our country. So we need to make sure that we’ve got the environment and the capacity to be able to look after those international students, because a lot of them have come a long way. Their families have made a lot of sacrifices to send them to university in this country, and we need to make sure that there’s appropriate accommodation available for them.
Cheralyn Darcey
That’s right.
Senator Scarr
Because it can be really challenging for people who’ve come from overseas, and they enter into the rental market and they’re facing this shortage of housing. So I think we really need to be careful.
Cheralyn Darcey
Does the Coalition plan to introduce caps or incentives that favor certain institutions or even regions?
Senator Scarr
Those are all sorts of policies that we’re in the process now of considering, and we’re consulting with the university sector in relation to those, issues. I just thought I might give you a few statistics, which I think you and your listeners might find interesting. So in terms of export dollars, because when an international student comes to Australia, the tuition fees they pay and the goods and services which they pay for, they’re actually considered education exports in terms of our national accounts. And for the last year, the total amount Australia benefited from our international students was 50 billion dollars, so this is a huge amount of money. And then when you look at the discrepancies, and this is coming back to the question you raised, if you look at the divergence between the revenues received by particular universities from international students. It ranges from 15% in some cases, which is, you know, it’s a material amount, but a moderate amount, up to 40%. So some universities, in terms of their total revenue, they’re getting 40% of their revenues from international students. So you’ve got some universities where it’s at a much lower figure, say 15% but other universities, it’s up to 40%. So, I think it’s really important, as we engage in this debate and develop and the Coalition develops policies to take to the next election that we engage with universities across the whole of Australia, and that includes in our regional centers, and we’ve got some wonderful universities in our regional centers and also in our capital cities. And we should also consider the capacity of our quality specialist providers, so those providers who are providing courses at the real top end of the spectrum for the best and the brightest in terms of their capacity and what opportunities are there. Because I think that’s an important part of the puzzle as well. I of course, spent time in Papua New Guinea, lived and worked in wonderful Papua New Guinea for over two years, between 1999 and 2001 so one of the other things I think we need to do is making sure that there’s opportunities for students from our local Pacific family to come and study and then take those skills back to their country of origin and provide assistance, especially in the health sector, to people in in their in their home countries.
Cheralyn Darcey
Well, then would you consider prioritizing student visas for courses that are linked to current skills shortages, not only to help overseas, but also here places, especially in healthcare and in engineering.
Senator Scarr
Look, I think that’s a I think that’s a very good idea, because we have some chronic shortages in relation to particular skill areas. Everything from carpenters to cardiac surgeons. We have shortages in Australia, but also some of those countries in our region, they’ve got shortages as well in terms of specific skills. So I think that really needs to be part of the mix in terms of considering those skill shortages. And I also think we need to consider the People to People relationships as well. So whether or not priority is given, or at least it’s considered as part of the mix in terms of those relationships with some countries in our own region.
Cheralyn Darcey
What message would you give to international students currently studying in Australia or considering coming here in the future, Paul?
Senator Scarr
I would like to say to them and their parents that Australia is a beautiful country, and for those students who get that visa and come here, that they are welcome, and I think that’s really important, because I think there have been a few incidents. I can remember a few incidents in the past where certain international students have maybe been subject to some acts of violence, or they’ve been robbed, etc, and that leads to really bad publicity in terms of their home countries. So I’d really like to emphasize to people who are considering studying here that Australia is a beautiful country, and they are welcomed, and they will get a quality education in Australia, and hopefully get the skills which they can take and contribute back to their own country, wherever they’ve come from, or if they have an opportunity, because of skill shortages in our own country, to make a contribution in our own country, especially in regional areas. I think there’s also that opportunity.
Cheralyn Darcey
Senator, before you go in your capacity as the Shadow Minister for Immigration, we have had a situation today, and it’s one that’s got a lot of people’s heads shaking. And fair enough, a woman who has publicly praised the October 7, Hamas attacks has reportedly been given the green light to come and live in Australia with her family. Now most Aussies would be thinking, how does something like this even happen? And this afternoon, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash has now called for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to resign. From your perspective, do we need new laws to stop this happening again, or is this simply a failure by this government to use the powers it already has?
Senator Scarr
In my view, we don’t need new laws. The laws are there already that can be used in appropriate cases. And I’ve actually opened the Section of the Act as we’re talking about this. And it actually lists a number of elements under what’s referred to as the character test. And for the purposes of deciding whether or not someone meets the character test, for the purposes of the migration act, it lists a number of elements, and one of those elements is inciting discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community. It includes things like vilification of a segment of the Australian community. It includes considering whether or not someone is directly or indirectly a risk to security. It includes a whole raft of things that the minister can consider in terms of deciding whether or not to grant a visa or not to grant a visa. Now, speaking in general principles, I would have thought that anyone who supports a registered terrorist organization or celebrates the actions of any such organization, or provides support in any way to such an organization. I would have thought that there are powers under the Act that can be used now. Those powers can be used now. So this isn’t a question of of changing the law. And I should say I’m not across all the particulars of the case, but I should say that the law that’s on the book is very strong at this particular point in time. So the law is there.
Cheralyn Darcey
Senator Paul Scarr, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
Senator Scarr
Excellent. Thank you very much.
