Not necessarily a bad idea!

July 30, 2026

So, international education is Australia’s fourth largest export industry, valued at $55 billion. Divided into 700,000 international students, that is an average contribution per student to Australia’s economy of $80,000 pa. All those students are being exploited to a greater or lesser extent within an education system and a migration system which are rife with perverse incentives and corrupt practices.

Perhaps in this case One Nation’s anti-immigration policies might inadvertently bring about some positive consequences. The loss of overseas students would bring to a head the shameful, decades-long withdrawal of government funding from the tertiary sector and the consequent reliance of universities on the exorbitant fees paid by international students. The loss of cheap / exploited / illegal workers from the hospitality and other sectors would (one hopes) shake those industries up, and possibly force us all to re-consider the necessity of having take-away meals delivered on the cheap. As for the students themselves, they and their families would no longer have the opportunity to sacrifice all in order to obtain an Australian qualification – and perhaps citizenship – for a chosen child.

Maybe not such a disaster after all.