Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This question is for the Minister for Education. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to improve the integrity and sustainability of the international education sector? Are there alternative approaches?

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I thank my friend, the marvellous member for McEwen, for that question. He was at a school in his electorate with his granddaughter, Ava, just last week. Since COVID, international students are back but so are the shonks and the crooks who feed off this sector, using it as a back door for people to work here.

We've got to take action to protect the integrity of this sector. That's what the legislation that's in the Senate does. We also need to protect community support for this sector, and 70 per cent of Australians agree that the government should be able to put a cap or a limit on the number of international students that come to our country every year. That's what this legislation that's in the Senate does.

We make no apology for working to bring migration back to prepandemic levels. A key part of that is putting a limit on the number of international students who come to this country every year. Up until this week, the Liberal Party agreed with that. In the biggest speech that an opposition leader ever makes in any given year at that dispatch box, the opposition leader got up in May and said that he would 'set a cap on foreign students'.

About an hour ago he did a press conference, just out there, where he said, 'We are happy for there to be a cap.' But that means nothing unless you're prepared to vote for it, and this opposition leader has just instructed his team down in the Senate to vote against legislation to put a cap on the number of international students. That legislation doesn't set a number; it just sets a power to create a cap, and you're voting against it.

Never in my life did I expect to see this opposition leader get into bed with the Greens on immigration, but that is exactly what is happening. We shouldn't be surprised, because for this reckless, arrogant opposition leader it's never about the public interest or the national interest; it's always about his private and political interest, even if it means getting into bed with the Greens.

The opposition leader has talked about the Group of Eight today. Let me remind him: they've put out a statement welcoming your decision to block this. That should tell you everything about what they think that you're doing. I've got a letter from 16 small and regional universities telling us that they want this, and 70 per cent of the Australian people say they want this, but the Liberal Party, the National Party and the Greens are getting into bed to stop this. Australians are fast starting to realise they can't trust this bloke on anything.