Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) (18:02:45): I will shed light on issues being faced by international students in my electorate of Coogee, across Australia and New South Wales. My electorate of Coogee directly neighbours the University of New South Wales and subsequently is home to a large number of international students who live, work and study in my community. The electorate of Coogee is home to a great many academics and support staff who derive their income from the higher education sector, many of whom have reached out to me to express concern about how international students are being treated. In 2018 the University of New South Wales received over $700 million in revenue from international students, making up over 57 per cent of total student revenue.
The university is now facing a $600 million budget shortfall as international student numbers have fallen by 30 per cent. In 2021 and again in 2022 the university's prediction is for losses of $450 million. Let me be very clear: International students are extremely important to the Australian, New South Wales and Coogee communities. International students are not only important to the higher education sector but also are hugely important to the people, businesses and local economies that surround our universities. International students contribute over $32 billion to the Australian economy, $13 billion of which is in New South Wales, and contribute nearly 50,000 full-time equivalent jobs in New South Wales, which accounts for 1½ per cent of the total employment in this State.
These students live among us, share our communities, rent properties, pay council rates, and the vast majority work and pay taxes in Australia as well. They spend money in our local supermarkets, they eat at Isabella's in Randwick, they watch movies at The Ritz in The Spot, and they definitely go to the Coogee Bay on a Saturday night. When a pipe is leaking, they call local plumbers; when they get sick, they visit local doctors and pick up their prescriptions from local chemists. Businesses across the Coogee electorate benefit from our international students, as both loyal customers and hard‑working employees.
International students do far more than just add dollars to our economy. Wherever international students live they will be important parts of communities and economies. The benefits international students bring extend well beyond the economy. They volunteer in our communities, they add to Australia's cultural diversity and enhance our international standing. They play many different roles in our communities: they are our colleagues, friends, neighbours, tenants, customers and classmates. Generations of international students to Australia and New South Wales have contributed to the goodwill between our homes and theirs, between our different countries.
How have we thanked these students for coming here to study and contributing to our lives? How have we protected the future of a globally respected Australian higher education industry? How have we recognised the financial hardship that has befallen these students and supported them through the pandemic as they lost their jobs and were unable to leave our shores? Tens of thousands of international students who are still in Australia are doing it tough, all while living thousands of kilometres from home. Thousands more have been forced to abandon their studies, break their leases, quit their local jobs and fly home. They are unlikely to return to their studies in Australia and likely to advise their friends and siblings to study elsewhere. Many of them are completely out of work, having to take out loans or rely on charities. Most of these students cannot just go home; it is not an option. What have we seen from this Government? Nothing. No support whatsoever.
To treat these students as cash cows, taking their money but refusing to support them when they need our help, is not only immoral, it is economically irresponsible. History tells us that austerity does not work during a recession. The Liberal Government has, at a Federal level, provided billions of dollars of support through the JobKeeper program—although I note that it was $60 billion less than they thought they would be providing, after, shall we say, a minor accounting error. While Labor does not believe that the JobKeeper and JobSeeker programs cover enough of our communities, we have been supportive of the programs in principle. The vast majority of international students are not eligible for any Federal Government support, and the support being provided by the New South Wales Government is entirely inadequate. Why does the Liberal Government insist on austerity for a segment of the community that is in need of such help at this time? It is brutal, it is devoid of compassion and it is fiscally irresponsible—all unfortunate trademarks of this Government, the Premier and her Treasurer.
If we do not support these international students, our economy will suffer, as will their education—this year and for many years to come. The jobs that these students create will disappear, as will the revenue they provide to our universities and colleges. This will decimate our higher education sector, including the mass closure of institutions and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, at a time when the sector is already suffering. NSW Labor calls on the Government to provide a $60 million package to fund grants of up to $1,100 for international students experiencing hardship. This support is desperately needed by the thousands of international students living in my electorate, and for those living across the State of New South Wales.
