16 News

Ahead of a Senate Committee Inquiry hearing into the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 on Tuesday 6th August, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and Spokesperson for Higher Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi is calling on the Labor government to dump their disastrous international student caps policy. 

Senator Faruqi, who is on the Senate Committee, has said that of the 68 submissions, nearly all do not support the Bill, and every university that provided a submission expressed serious concerns about the consequences of the caps. Notably, the Victorian, WA, SA and ACT Labor governments also voiced significant apprehension about the Bill.

The submissions warn that the Bill:

• Scapegoats international students for a housing crisis they did not cause
• Allows for unprecedented ministerial overreach and intervention
• Will result in significant job and financial losses
• Damages Australia’s reputation as a destination for international students

Senator Faruqi is calling on Labor to read the writing on the wall and scrap the caps.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“It is high time Labor listened to the sector. Almost all of the submissions to the Inquiry into this terrible Bill don’t support it, raising significant concerns that the Bill will cause major and long-lasting damage to Australia’s higher education sector.  

“This is clearly a migration policy disguised as an education policy.

“Labor is crushing universities in a bid to look tough on borders and compete with the Liberals on cruelty.

“Using international students as cash cows and then scapegoats for the Labor government’s  failure to provide affordable housing is pure racist dog whistling which targets and harms international students and migrants.

“Not only are these caps damaging to Australia’s reputation as a destination for international students, they are also a direct attack on the fundamental principles of student choice and university independence.

“Such unprecedented ministerial intervention and micromanagement of universities and international students is a terrible approach which compromises both teaching and learning needs.

“While Labor seems intent on making bad legislation, I urge Mr Burke to use the opportunity as the new Immigration Minister to swiftly reset this unfair decision and scrap the caps entirely. 

“Rather than putting more pressure on university staff and students, Education Minister Jason Clare should focus on fixing the ballooning cost of education by immediately dumping the job-ready graduates policy, wiping student debt and making uni free.”

Extracts from submissions to the inquiry into the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 of some key concerns:

Scapegoating international students for a housing crisis they did not cause

Business Council of Australia: “If we are to solve the housing crisis, we need to go to the core of the problem. Short term policy reactions such as a cap on international student numbers will not fix the issue, will detract from real solutions and have negative consequences for the broader economy.”

International Education Association of Australia: “Our Association fundamentally opposes the premise of enrolment limits (the caps). We believe that they have been designed as a politically blunt policy instrument to address a spurious narrative that international students are the principal cause of the current ‘rental crisis’ in Australia.”

Allowing for ministerial overreach and intervention

Group of Eight (Go8): “The central command and control regime for international education that caps represent simply will not work… what will be achieved is the undermining of Australia’s most successful and largest services export industry.”

University of Sydney: “… the proposed changes would represent an unprecedented intervention by the Commonwealth in the affairs of Australia’s independent and autonomous public universities. … previous similar government attempts to manipulate Australia’s higher education market – like the Job-ready Graduates Package of 2020 – have failed to deliver their objectives and had unintended consequences because student choice ultimately drives demand.” 

Resulting in significant job and financial losses

Universities Australia: “The Bill, as drafted, puts at risk thousands of jobs, Australia’s reputation as a welcoming destination, and the strength of a major economic driver for our nation and universities. These legislative changes do not provide universities with clarity or certainty but will leave them vulnerable to the Minister’s, or future Ministers’, discretional powers with limited oversight and intervention through consultation or review process.”

NTEU: “To suddenly introduce at short notice significant regulatory controls that are linked to government priorities that are not sector related… will inevitably create financial stress and job losses at many institutions.”

University of Melbourne: “The rationale for these measures is flawed and their implementation could harm both international and domestic students, jeopardise the sector’s reputation and long-term sustainability, and lead to significant job losses.”

Damaging Australia’s reputation as a destination for international students

UNSW: “International students enrich our communities and are a critical part of Australia’s social fabric. The global reputation of Australia as a top education destination is at stake…”

Queensland University of Technology: “It is not possible to introduce the proposed regime or anything like it on 1 January 2025 without throwing the sector into complete disarray. Australia’s global reputation as a stable, desirable, reliable international study destination will be severely damaged, potentially irreparably.”

Responding to reports that the Albanese Government are shying away from strong gambling reform, Greens spokesperson for communications Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
 
“Nothing less than a plan to eliminate all broadcast and online gambling advertising is good enough. 
 
“The Labor Government is once again showing it will do more for the gambling giants and Murdoch Media than sports fans.
 
“It is only the corporate giants profiting off human suffering from the insidious gambling industry that support gambling ads. The same profits that get funnelled into the Labor Party through political donations.
 
“Is it any wonder Labor is soft on reforms when the Communications Minister dines out with Sportsbet? How many more lives will be wrecked for the sake of more dirty dinners and donations? 
 
“The Australian public wants an end to gambling ads. They want to enjoy watching television or scrolling online without being bombarded with betting odds. 
 
“Come on, Labor, do it for the kids. 
 
“The Greens are ready to vote for a complete ban when Parliament returns.”

Prime Minister Albanese’s choice to use a change in the official terror alert level to air political grievances is both divisive and irresponsible. 

The change of Australia’s official terror alert level from “possible” to “probable” needed to be handled with care.

Instead, the Prime Minister used this announcement to dismiss well-founded community concerns and conflate them with a rise in the terror threat level, while minimising the real threats created by far-right agitators. 

The director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation made it very clear that the threat level has no direct link to what is occurring in the Middle East. 

We have seen ill-defined concerns about “terrorism” previously used to divide the community and deny people their civil liberties for short-term political gain. 

To ensure that this does not happen again clear and focused statements are necessary. Statements that focus on the causes of unrest and the practical and meaningful steps politicians can take to address them. Instead, the Prime Minister chose to make sweeping generalisations and conflations that place politics above leadership.

Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Spokesperson for Multiculturalism and Justice said: “It was deeply irresponsible for Prime Minister Albanese to use this moment as a platform to air his political grievances and conflate good people concerned with specific actions of his government with far-right conspiracy theorists. 

“So many communities right now feel like the Government is not listening to them, not acknowledging the pain they are experiencing and failing to enact policy that addresses these issues. 

“Dismissing people’s well-founded concern about Australia’s role in the genocide in Gaza and insinuating that these concerns are somehow associated with a rise in terrorism risk levels will only further divide the community and doesn’t keep us safe.

“In the United Kingdom overnight, far-right thugs are on the march – attacking immigrants and burning hotel housing for people seeking asylum – after years of politicians denying refugees basic rights and dehumanising migrants. Far-right agitators are also trying to bring hate to Australia, but Anthony Albanese tried to use this opportunity to attack people pushing for peace.

“The claim from Prime Minister Albanese that his Government has no role in “what is occurring in the Middle East” is blatantly false. The Government allows the export of military equipment to Israel, including parts of the F35 fighter jet used to bomb Gaza, and has contracts with Israeli weapons companies, such as Elbit, while refusing to sanction the extremist Netanyahu government for its war crimes or recognise Palestine. This is the basis for the community’s legitimate concerns.

“All countries have a role in stopping genocide, apartheid and occupation, as the International Court of Justice has made clear. Maintaining a two-way arms trade with the State of Israel, refusing to expel the Ambassador and not sanctioning Israeli leadership is a choice by the Government to ignore its obligations.”

Groundbreaking research published today by fourteen of Australia’s premier forest scientists has revealed the extent of the destruction of native forests in New South Wales and presents the clearest picture yet of the species and habitat at stake due to ongoing native forest logging.

The paper, published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, found that:

Over 60% of native forest in New South Wales has been destroyed or degraded by logging since European invasion

The methodology for determining the environmental impact of logging fails to consider vital historical land-use context and is as a result pushing species to extinction faster than predicted

Ongoing logging operations threaten the habitat of over 150 already vulnerable species at risk of extinction.

New South Wales lags behind other jurisdictions in Australia and around the world which have banned native forest logging

A letter from Ms Higginson sent today to the Premier, the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Agriculture can be found here .

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said, “This new science confirms our worst fears and totally undermines the pretext for the deeply unpopular, unprofitable, and dangerous practice of native forest logging,”

“This death by a thousand cuts is so much worse than the sum of its parts,”

“Forestry Corporation’s pretext for destroying our native forests is a lie. Places as beautiful and complex as native forests cannot be adequately accounted for with ad hoc impact assessments that ignore history, context, and connection of the places they survey,”

“Last week, the Land and Environment Court found Forestry was a serial illegal logger and unlikely to change its practices. This must concern the Premier, the Forestry Corporation is a State Owned Corporation”

“Right now, the Labor Government is ready to log another 400,000 hectares of critical habitat for some of our most threatened wildlife including the koala, quoll and cockatoo. The Premier could call off the bulldozers and the chainsaws tomorrow – what will it take for him to show some leadership and put a stop to the vandalism of an utterly unique natural public asset?”

“This Government is hogtied by the Forestry Corporation, and New South Wales has become a laggard and an outlier. Victoria stopped logging. New Zealand stopped logging. Western Australia and South Australia have stopped logging. We need to get on with the inevitable,”

The Albanese Government has reached a new level of incompetence with revelations today that the Fair Work Commission is struggling with the task of trying to put certain branches of the CFMEU into administration because it does not have the powers or the evidence to carry out the task.

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, called on the new Workplace Relations Minister, Murray Watt, to get serious about stamping out illegality in the construction industry, which starts with the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and deregistering the CFMEU.

“Today’s revelations show that the Albanese Government is struggling to even get its weak option of semi-administration for the CFMEU over the line, because it’s chosen bureaucracy – the Fair Work Commission – lacks the ability to implement even this soft option,” Senator Cash said.

“The new Minister Murray Watt was the man who proudly led the charge of getting the abolition of the ABCC through the Senate, giving control of the construction sector in his Australia to his mates at the CFMEU. He still refuses to acknowledge his disastrous mistake and instead tries to blame the Coalition for the lawlessness of Labor’s CFMEU donors.”

“If Mr Watt is serious about combatting corruption, thuggery, bribery, violence and criminal activity on our nation’s building sites, he should introduce legislation to re-establish the ABCC with increased powers when Parliament returns on Monday August 12.”

Senator Cash also reiterated the Coalition’s calls for the Albanese Government to deregister the construction division of the CFMEU rather than the weak option of a temporary administrator for some of its branches.

“Bob Hawke passed legislation to deregister the Builder’s Labourers Federation in the 1980s. Anthony Albanese needs to do the same thing for the CFMEU,’’ Senator Cash said.

“Unfortunately, Mr Albanese is taking the weak option of semi administration for the CFMEU, because he is too scared to stand up to one of the Labor Party’s biggest donors,” she said.

“If Labor are serious about stamping out corruption in the CFMEU they need to immediately do three things – re-establish the ABCC with increased powers, deregister the CFMEU and pass the former Coalition Government’s Ensuring Integrity measures which they blocked in the Senate,” Senator Cash said.

Home Affairs staff using the Albanese Government’s Ministerial Direction 99 did not cancel the visas of 66 criminal non-citizens, including rapists, child sex offenders, violent offenders, and domestic violence offenders.

It has already been reported that Administrative Appeals (AAT) Members allowed 97 criminal non-citizens to remain in Australia because of Labor’s Ministerial Direction 99.

The new Immigration Minister, Tony Burke, must finally be honest with the Australian people about the size of the mess caused by Labor’s Ministerial Direction 99 and apologise for failing on the government’s number one duty to keep the public safe.

The Australian community expects Minister Burke to not only review these departmental decisions to ensure criminals who should have been deported are deported but publicly release the review outcomes.

Ministerial Direction 99 was introduced by then Labor Immigration Minister Andrew Giles on 23 January 2023 providing new guidance for Home Affairs staff and AAT members when considering visas cancelled under the character test provisions of the Migration Act.

According to government answer to a Senate Estimates Question Notice, Home Affairs staff did not cancel the visa of 66 criminal non-citizens because of Ministerial Direction 99, including, rapists, child sex offenders, violent offenders, and drug offenders.

It has already been reported that non-citizens who should have been deported but were allowed to remain in Australia by the AAT because of Ministerial Direction 99 include:

• A serial rapist who attacked 25 women and a child.

• A non-citizen police said possessed, “some of the worst child abuse material in the world”.

• A convicted rapist whose drug-fuelled attack drove his victim into a spiral of self-harm and homelessness.

Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan said the Albanese Labor Government introduced Ministerial Direction 99 and then did not undertake a review of its operations even though they were warned it could put public safety at risk.

“A criminal non-citizen allowed to remain in Australia as a result of Ministerial Direction 99 went on to allegedly commit murder,” Mr Tehan said.

“Will Minister Burke not only review these new cases but publish the findings?

“Will Minister Burke be transparent about the risks to public safety caused by Ministerial Direction 99 and guarantee the same mistakes will not be repeated under Labor’s new Ministerial Direction 110?

“This will be a test for Minister Burke on how serious he is about keeping the Australian community safe.

“The last time Minister Burke was Immigration Minister 83 asylum seeker boats arrived in 80 days; will he sit back again as another mess unfolds?”

The Labor Government introduced Ministerial Direction 99 because of a commitment made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to New Zealand Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after she complained that Australia was deporting criminal New Zealanders back to her country.

Labor finally admitted the failure of Ministerial Direction 99 and issued a replacement, Ministerial Direction 110, that came into effect on 7 June 2024.

It has been 12 months since the Play our Way program was announced to provide funding towards female sports facilities, but community sporting organisations have been left in the dark by the Albanese Labor Government.

It has been reported today that applicants to the program have not received any update on whether they have been successful, leaving community sport representatives frustrated by the slow process and funding uncertainty.

The Government committed to this funding package as a back-foot response to the Coalition’s $250 million announcement to support community sporting infrastructure across the country.

The Coalition’s commitment sought to capitalise on the inspiration provided by the Matilda’s World Cup success, to deliver long-term benefits by boosting female participation in sport and supporting grassroots sport.

Shadow Minister for Sport, Senator Anne Ruston said that this unexplained delay with the Government’s program is incredibly disappointing, particularly at a time when the sporting prowess of Australia’s female athletes is once again in the spotlight.

“We already knew this announcement was just more rushed policy on the run from Labor. They clearly felt the pressure of being on the back foot as the Coalition took the lead on supporting women’s sport.

“The Albanese Labor Government’s failure to now provide any significant update after all this time just proves their announcement was all about politics. This government must stop prioritising photo opportunities over the real action needed to support sports participation in Australia.

“It is critical that the Government supports the sporting infrastructure communities need as more young Australians are inspired to get out there and get active,” Senator Ruston said.