The Coalition’s migration plan risks breaching Australia’s free trade agreement with India, signed by the former Morrison government, allowing Indian students to stay and work for up to four years after completing their studies. Angus Taylor on Tuesday announced plans to cut net overseas migration to 100,000 for the first two years of a Coalition government and up to 160,000 in year four, in a plan which would abolish temporary graduate visas, make major cuts to international student, bridging and temporary protection visas, and halve humanitarian places. Under the plan, temporary graduate visas would be slashed from 271,200 to just 10,000 by 2031-32.
The shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, said any graduate wanting to remain in Australia would have to return home and apply for a separate temporary visa. Some workers in priority areas such as health, education and in some regional areas would be allowed to remain. Phil Honeywood, the chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), said this could breach the India free trade agreement.
A letter on the agreement, from the then Liberal trade minister Dan Tehan, in April 2022, states: “Australia agrees to maintain the following opportunities for former students to live, study and work in Australia temporarily after finishing their studies.” This includes allowing trade or diploma graduates to stay up to 18 months, bachelor graduates up to two years, bachelor graduates in Stem courses and master’s graduates up to three years, and doctoral degree graduates up to four years. Honeywood said it was “ironic” the Coalition was targeting the visa when it had negotiated special conditions with India, the second largest cohort of international students in Australia, behind China. He warned Australia would lose skilled workers in critical areas under the Coalition’s changes.
He said Australia would take “money off bright young people for their qualifications” before sending them home without having the chance to benefit from their high-demand health, IT and engineering skills. Honeywood said the explosion in non-genuine international students coming to Australia was in part due to a post-Covid directive by the then Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison, who increased the number of hours international students could work in key industries. A Coalition spokesperson told Guardian Australia there would be no treaty breach, and the party would look at establishing different visa pathways for some of those graduates.
Which visas are provided is up to Australia,” the spokesperson said. But a spokesperson for the assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, said the sector was now tracking towards 250,000 commencements for this calendar year. Universities Australia said the changes risked doing “lasting damage” to Australia’s higher education sector and the economy.
In a statement, its chief executive, Luke Sheehy, said removing the temporary graduate program could make Australia less attractive for students. He said all comparable nations had competitive postgraduate work opportunities.
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