Interview with Peter Stefanovic, First Edition

27 May 2024

PETER STEFANOVIC: Now, China is going to make it official in a visit next month. It's concerned about the crackdown on foreign students and foreign investment here in Australia as well. Let's go live to the Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Jane, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning as always, so given it is such a big export sector, should we be bothered by China's intervention here?

JANE HUME: Pete, we would expect China to, with its over 150,000 students in Australia to potentially be concerned about the Government's position on this but quite frankly, there is a bipartisan approach to capping the number of students and there's a reason for that. We have a housing crisis in Australia and somehow we've got to take the air out of the tires of the housing crisis. We know that foreign students put on an exceptional pressure particularly around our metropolitan universities, and that's where the Coalition would focus its cap on foreign students around metropolitan universities, less so the regional universities, and that's only fair and reasonable. It's part of a broader push to make sure that we can alleviate the pressure on the housing market by reducing our migrant intake which quite frankly, has gone out of control under this government, and it's Australians that are looking for houses whether to buy or to rent that are paying the price for that.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Specifically, what do you think the student cap should be?

JANE HUME: Well, that would be from Coalition's perspective negotiated with each university and specifically, as I said, metropolitan universities, which is where the pressures largely lie. Regional universities don't have the same issues as the metropolitan ones do. But that said, it's part of a broader program to make sure that we kept the number of migrants coming into Australia. The permanent intake as well as the humanitarian intake as well as student numbers, which is the only way we're going to be able to free up around 35,000 houses in the first year and potentially over 100,000 in subsequent years, with the program of a temporary reduction in the migration intake. Quite frankly, 1.67 million migrants in over five years, which is Labor's current position is untenable. It's the size of Adelaide moving into Australia again, and it's Australians that are looking for houses or looking for somewhere to rent that are paying the price for that.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Just on those caps though Jane, sorry to jump in there. So is it a percentage of students or a number that students should be capped at? Is that what, have you got that in mind?

JANE HUME: Well, it would be in discussion with each university as to what they're capable of, you know, each university is very different indeed. But it would be focused from a Coalition's perspective on metropolitan universities and not the regional ones.

PETER STEFANOVIC: I mean, are there unintended consequences here because there's this report this morning, that hundreds of vocational colleges will face closure and thousands of jobs could be lost as a result of the Government's migration crack down here. So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, have not all the problems being considered there could be much worse if the cap is too low.

JANE HUME: Well, certainly it's not a position that the Coalition would take lightly, but it is one that Peter Dutton announced in his Budget in Reply, and that's because one of the greatest pressures that are facing students right now is a lack of housing and there are flow on effects from that too. It means that people can't find somewhere to live that's close to where they work. It means that they're spending longer and longer in their cars that our infrastructure is failing around us. This is an opportunity now to just take the pressure off the housing system temporarily by reducing our migrant intake for a number of years. Down to 140,000 permanent migrants in the first year, second year, and then up to 150 and then 160 in year three and year four. That will help take the pressure off the housing system, off our infrastructure and off our services. Now, Anthony Albanese may have a very different approach that would be the Coalition's approach.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, Jane Hume thanks for your time as always chat to you soon.