The Australian government¡¯s ¡°short-sighted and politically expedient¡± crackdown on overseas students could claim 4,500 jobs in universities and tens of thousands more in hospitality and retail, a former Labor Party policy adviser has warned.

Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy told a Queensland conference that Australia was risking economic mayhem through a ¡°bipartisan about-turn¡± on international education.

Mr Sheehy said universities expected?visa processing changes?to cost them A$500 million (?261 million) this year alone. And a proposed ¡°cap by stealth¡± on international students could jeopardise the entire A$48 billion international education industry.

This could endanger some 250,000 jobs that relied on revenue from foreign students and their families, he said, including?more than two-thirds of workers in international tourism, while threatening an income stream that could cover the salaries of 545,000 nurses.

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¡°Both the government and the opposition are openly targeting international students in their bid to slash migration,¡± Mr Sheehy said in a speech to the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (UTECA) ÖйúAƬ symposium at Surfers Paradise. ¡°Little thought is given to the deeper consequences of policies driven by polling.

¡°With budgetary pressures mounting, shouldn¡¯t we be aiming to grow industries that sustain our economy rather than adding more strain? Is now really the time to water down a major export industry?¡±

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Mr Sheehy worked as an adviser to former Labor tertiary education minister Chris Evans and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek. He said both sides of Australian politics had barracked for a post-pandemic influx of international students before charging into an ¡°election battle¡± over migration.

He said the former Liberal-National coalition government had advocated measures to ¡°help support the rapid return of international students¡±, saying it wanted the foreign student ¡°market¡± to ¡°flourish again¡±. The current Labor government had criticised its predecessor ¡°for telling international students to?go home?during the pandemic¡± and lauded its own efforts in ¡°breaking the back of the?, only to rip the handbrake again¡±.

Such backflips contradicted the ¡°bipartisan support and encouragement¡± both sides had given to international education, partly to cover shortfalls in funding for university infrastructure and research, he said.

¡°Over the last number of decades, we¡¯ve been encouraged to diversify the income we get, and that includes international education,¡± Mr Sheehy told?Sky News.

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He said it was illogical to blame international students for Australia¡¯s accommodation squeeze, because rents had skyrocketed and housing concerns had escalated during a Covid-induced slump in student numbers.

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Meanwhile, a University of Technology Sydney??has hosed down concerns that Chinese house buyers ¨C including students and their parents ¨C are forcing up real estate prices and choking rental availability.?

The report by James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), says foreigners must pay application fees of up to A$42,300 for permission to buy residential properties in Australia. And they face double that amount in ¡°vacancy¡± fees if their properties are unoccupied for more than six months a year.

The report says Chinese nationals were involved in about A$3 billion of the A$613 billion in Australian real estate deals last year. And many would have sold up again.

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¡°Foreign buyers who are temporary residents, such as international students, can only purchase an established dwelling for the purposes of living in while in Australia,¡± the report says. ¡°The property must be sold when they are no longer residents.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com