The Cult of International Student Exports, By James Reed

This fundamental critique of the supposed economic bonanza of the international students has been discussed before here, drawing upon Macrobusinesse.com.au, but given that the massive influx of these students has such a dramatically bad impact upon Australia, such as fuelling the accommodation crisis, the critique cannot be repeated enough.

The claim made by the lobby is that the international students is a $ 48 billion export. This is false accounting according to Leith van Onselen:

"First, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) wrongly classifies all expenditure by international students as an export, even when the money used to pay for this expenditure is earned in Australia.

Given that most international students work while studying to pay their expenses, this automatically renders the $48 billion export figure null and void.

Second, students are the only class of visa (not including tourists) whose expenditure is counted as an export.

Therefore, when a student visa holder works driving an Uber and fills up on petrol, it is counted as an export. But when a worker in Australia on a skilled visa does likewise, it is not counted as an export. It is nonsensical.

Third, if international education was such an important export, then why did Australia lose a record $8.5 billion (~$A12.5 billion) in net migrant remittances in 2023?"

To my mind this is perfectly logical and a knock down refutation of the nonsense $ 48 billion export claim. Yet the lobby never address the criticisms, but keeps repeating the same mantra, supposing that if it is said enough, everyone will believe it. Well Australia, don't be sucked in, the international students, as I see it, are just replacement migration, who will be competing for the limited available jobs with locals. They already compete for accommodation; just ask the Aussies living in the tent cities scattered across the country.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2024/08/australias-international-student-exports-dont-add-up/