BCA chief executive Bran Black says foreign students are not to blame for the housing crisis.Credit:Oscar Colman
“Our economy is grinding to a halt,and we are concerned the government is about to make the wrong short-term decision by cutting international students,which will have a lasting long-term negative hit to the economy,impacting all Australians,” said Black,who leads the lobby group representing the nation’s major companies.
“International students are the red herring of the housing debate,masking the real discussion on how we approve and build more homes,particularly in addressing state and territory planning bottlenecks.”
The government and the opposition have linked the post-pandemic surge ofinternational students to housing stress. Both have pledged to enforce caps on the tertiary sector,the nation’s fourth-biggest export,as a key lever to drive down temporary migration,which the government aims to halve by next July from a high of 528,000 in 2022-23.
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The Coalition used question time on Tuesday to continue its attack on the Albanese government over migration and housing,accusing it of presiding over lagging supply while net overseas migration reached nearly a million people over the past two financial years.
In response,Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government had launched a $32 billion plan to build 1.2 million homes by mid-2029,and legislated theHousing Australia Future Fund,which aims to invest in the construction of 30,000 social and affordable homes.
Universities andstate governments have warned student caps will have broad economic impacts,inflict reputational damage on the nation as a study destination,and cripple domestic research and critical skills development while scapegoating students as a cause of the housing crisis.