Key events
International study caps will ’cause damage’, warns ANU expert
Daniel Hurst
The federal government’s crackdown on international students will cause “damage” and harm Australia’s reputation, a leading higher education analyst has said.
On Tuesday the Senate’s education and employment committee will begin an inquiry into the government’s higher education legislation. The bill includes a measure giving the government the power to cap the number of overseas students that may be enrolled with a provider or a class of providers for a year.
Andrew Norton, an Australian National University professor in the practice of higher education policy, takes aim at the bill in a report published today:
On its current trajectory, the government will cause much more damage than is necessary to achieve its policy goals. Its mistreatment of people hoping to study in Australia will harm the country’s reputation.
Some education providers will close and others will shrink. Thousands of people working in the education sector will lose their jobs.
Other industries relying on international students as workers and customers will go into decline. International education policy needs a period of pause and reflection, not the current poorly thought through plan to cap international student numbers.
Norton notes that “pent-up demand caused by closed borders in 2020 and 2021 and Australia’s popularity as an international student destination led to a record number of onshore student visa holders, 673,981 in May 2024”. But he notes the government has made a series of changes, including more than doubling student visa application fees and tightening the tests for awarding a student visa, which will probably be “enough to achieve population moderation”. He says:
Caps will be very difficult for education providers to administer without risking either under-enrolling relative to their cap or cancelling offers and confirmations of enrolment. Both will damage the providers and the students who want to study as these providers.
Uluru co-chair fears prime minister is ‘rolling back’ Makarrata promise
Karen Middleton
A co-chair of the dialogues which led to the Uluru statement from the heart, Pat Anderson, fears Anthony Albanese is abandoning his promise to create a Makarrata, or Indigenous truth-telling commission and trying to reduce it to “a vague vibe or a series of casual conversations” instead.
In a statement last night, Anderson challenged Albanese to clarify whether he is still committed to a Makarrata after he appeared to distance himself from the concept he had previously agreed to fund.
Anderson suggested the prime minister needed to clarify comments he made on ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday morning that makarrata meant “coming together after struggle” and government talking to Indigenous leaders about the way forward after the failed referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament fulfilled that definition.
The prime minister’s comments are confusing. Is he rolling back on the Labor election commitment to the Makarrata commission? We understand that a constitutional voice didn’t get up but the Australian people didn’t vote on truth or treaty.
She suggested Albanese was reducing the idea of Makarrata to something less than what was intended and promised:
Makarrata is not a vague vibe or a series of casual conversation. The Makarrata called for in the Uluru statement was a bricks and mortar body and a clear election promise.
In the Insiders interview, Albanese cited the Yolgnu definition of the word “makarrata”:
Obviously, there has been a struggle for First Nations people. That’s why we talk about closing the gap, or what is really a chasm in some areas. And coming together is a principle of walking together. That engagement. It’s not a moment in time. It’s a process of coming together after struggle.
Welcome
Good morning, and welcome back to another week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you this Monday as we go through our rolling coverage.
Overnight, co-chair of the dialogues which led to the Uluru statement from the heart – Pat Anderson – said she fears Anthony Albanese is abandoning his promise to create a makarrata, or Indigenous truth-telling commission.
In a statement on Sunday night, Anderson challenged Albanese to clarify whether he is still committed to a makarrata after he appeared to distance himself from the concept he had previously agreed to fund. Karen Middleton will have more for us shortly on Anderson’s statement.
Meanwhile, a leading higher education analyst has warned the federal government’s crackdown on international students will cause “damage” and harm Australia’s reputation. We’ll have more on this from Daniel Hurst in a moment.
As always, you can get in touch with any questions or story tips via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.