FEATURE: the education side of the immigration debate

Deep cuts in net overseas migration are advanced by those seeking short term political gain by claiming that those cuts will help solve the housing crisis.

The reduction of immigration numbers has been advocated stridently by One Nation. The Coalition parties have been drawn into a supportive position by their right-wing leadership, motivated by perceived political gain. The Labor government is trying apologetically to hold the line between political pressure from the Right and their media supporters and a view that the Australian economy and society require that Migration continue at realistic and properly managed levels, not least in the Tertiary Education sector.

It is noteworthy that the proponents are from the same political groups who decry the government’s modest tax adjustments to reduce housing demand (and cost) by withdrawing the longstanding tax incentives for investment in residential property which have supported stratospheric rises in the cost of housing for the benefit of the small minority of citizens who are able to pursue the capital gains on offer to exponentially widen the wealth (and power) gap in the country.

What the migration argument omits are the substantial benefits from overseas student programs. Those students are not only imbued with their primary area of study but also Australian culture and friendships with which they return to their homelands. More immediately their fees make a significant contribution to the funding of tertiary institutions. Those fees have been employed in recent decades to make up the shortfall of financial resources which has arisen from the retreat of Australian governments from funding of tertiary education.

It is regrettable that Tertiary Education sector advocacy opposing student migration caps has not been effective. Tertiary education management appears to have accepted the resulting revenue shortfall and some have powered on into structural changes affecting educational quality and outcomes.

The billions of dollars of revenue foregone as a result of student migration caps will produce the following results:

• Research funding will be cut
• PhD stipends and the number of PhD students will be reduced
• Larger class sizes and fewer tutorial options
• Cuts to essential student services:
• Reduction in Commonwealth-supported places (CSPs):
• Students will receive a poorer-quality education with fewer support services, and future domestic students will find it harder to secure a place.

The quality and level of education is a hallmark of an advanced and successful society. It drives innovation and a successful economy and enables citizens to better engage with and contribute to the nation’s polity. Declining education standards have retrograde effects on the national economy which result in wealth and power inequality and generates disharmony and destroys cohesion and ultimately peace within a society.

 John Curr
13 August 2026