Australia’s opposition Coalition is doubling-down on its pledge to slash net overseas migration to just 100,000 places a year if it wins the next election—and the backlash has been immediate. Speaking in Canberra on 8 October, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor insisted the policy would not deter international students, even as universities warned of multi-billion-dollar revenue losses and community groups highlighted knock-on labour shortages. Under the plan, the intake would be wound back for two years before gradually rising to 160,000 by year four. Graduate, refugee and bridging visa streams would be pared back, while a new pathway would steer graduates already working in “critical sectors” such as aged care toward skilled visas. Taylor told reporters he had briefed India’s High Commissioner and other key partner countries, arguing that students would still have work rights but Australia could not remain “dependent on guest workers.” Aged-care providers quickly pushed back. Ageing Australia chief executive Tom Symondson said a quarter of the sector’s workforce is on temporary visas and “couldn’t exist” without migrants filling roles from nursing to kitchen services. Industry leaders fear that capping migration without exempting lower-skilled care roles will intensify chronic staff shortages just as demand for home-care packages and residential places hits record highs. Universities Australia estimates that a 25 per cent fall in international enrolments would strip A$6 billion from the higher-education sector and undermine research funding that depends on full-fee paying students. Regional campuses that rely most heavily on India and Nepal for enrolments are considered especially vulnerable. Peak tourism and accommodation bodies have also warned that limiting graduate visas could curb the supply of casual workers the visitor economy still needs to rebuild post-pandemic. Business groups are now urging both major parties to release detailed modelling of economic impacts before next year’s election campaign moves into full swing. In the meantime, international education agents report a spike in queries from students considering Canada and the UK, underscoring just how sensitive global talent flows are to policy signals from Canberra.
Source: ABC News
