In their search for people other than themselves to blame for Australia’s lack of affordable housing, the country’s two major political parties have found an easy scapegoat in international students. At a superficial level, international students are an easy target, being only temporary residents of Australia, yet their economic contribution to the country is significant, they are a huge soft power asset, and – though it is often overlooked – they are shaping Australian cities in positive ways.
Last year, the Labor government attempted to limit the number of international students to 260,000 annually, but was unable to pass any legislation to this effect. Instead, it has resorted to the government’s favorite tactic for visas across the board – increasing fees and slowing down processing – in order to limit numbers in practice.
The Liberal Party has also seen an opportunity here in the context of Australia’s current election campaign, and pledged that it would limit the number of international students to 240,000 each year, as well as further increase visa fees.
The costs to Australia’s universities from caps on international students will be significant, but the effect on Australia’s soft power should also be a concern. International students are not just a financial asset for Australia; each international student is a potential ambassador. The objective is for them to return to their home countries but maintain strong ties and a positive perception of Australia. As they rise into positions of power and influence across multiple sectors, their connection to Australia creates potential collaborative economic, scientific, and diplomatic opportunities.
As a country of limited cultural reach, this helps seed Australia’s influence throughout the world. And as Australian universities gain positive global reputations from having high-performing graduates, this attracts more students to further this pollination of Australia around the world. Limiting student numbers curbs this phenomenon.
Yet there is another cost that is even less understood by Australian politicians – the cost to the life of Australian cities. In the 1980s and 1990s, Melbourne was known as a “doughnut city,” as come 5 p.m., people would finish work and then flee to the suburbs, leaving the city’s core empty. But as it has become Australia’s education capital, Melbourne’s central business district has undergone a dramatic transformation.
The population of people who live in the city center has exploded, as have the city’s food and entertainment industries. The streets buzz with activity at all hours of the day. Chinatown continues to expand outwards from its traditional strip, and a Koreatown has emerged. Much of this has been driven by international students. The completion of a new metro line this year – with stations at both the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) – will continue to drive student foot traffic and economic activity in the city.
Politicians, by nature, don’t live lives connected to this vibrancy. Public transport may occasionally be used for a photo opportunity, but never to commute, and feet are solely used for getting in and out of cars, not as their own mode of getting around a city. As a result, politicians have no daily experience of what they are undermining – it’s simply not their world.
Yet much of what politicians wish to advance, like the knowledge-based industries that Australia desperately needs, is intimately connected to the energy and dynamism of the country’s urban environments. These are the environments where creativity flourishes, where ideas expand and cross-pollinate. This is where both innovative businesses and highly-skilled people are looking to base themselves. The role international students have played in building such spaces cannot be underestimated, and shouldn’t be weakened.
This highlights the real problem underlying Australia’s housing crisis: the lack of densification. The fastest growing area of the country is Melbourne’s outer-western suburbs – where there is an almost endless plain for housing developments to expand with large suburban houses. But alongside the lack of schools, medical services, jobs, and public transport, there is a lack of walkability and vibrant public spaces, and the sociability that these encourage.
International students create market demand for the densification of Australian cities. They themselves don’t occupy every apartment in a new building, but their existence significantly increases the likelihood that new apartment buildings will get built. Both Australia’s major political parties may believe that by limiting the number of students, they are removing some of the demand for housing, but what they may instead be doing is inhibiting construction, as well as inhibiting what makes cities so great.