“You can’t talk tough on immigration and vote against a bill to control the number of people coming into the country.”
Universities have said the caps would create headaches for them and they have complained of uncertainty given how late in the year the legislation for next year’s caps was due to be voted on. Some have already taken the unprecedented step of blocking new applications for 2025 as they struggle to plan and foreign students continue arriving.
The cap means about 53,000 fewer new overseas students will be accepted in 2025 compared to 2023, a 16 per cent cut, as the federal government responds to political pressure to reduce overall migration numbers.
Phil Honeywood, of the International Education Association of Australia, said the Coalition’s move meant the “blunt instrument” of caps would be replaced by the vagaries of the contentious ministerial direction, which gives preference to certain countries.
Labor introduced Ministerial Direction 107 to slow down visa processing and identify non-genuine students. But it has been extremely unpopular among universities because fewer students from countries such as India, Nepal and Pakistan have been approved for visas and regional institutions have lost enrolments.
“By just opposing the caps legislation, the Coalition is not providing our sector with any apparent alternative policy. We are going to have a dogs breakfast situation from now until the start of the academic year just only a few months away,” Honeywood said.
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