Coalition’s migration plan risks breaching India free trade agreement and damaging economy, advocates warn

University students on campus at Monash University. The Coalition proposes slashing Temporary graduate visas from 271,200 to just 10,000 by 2031-32. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images View image in fullscreen University students on campus at Monash University. The Coalition proposes slashing Temporary graduate visas from 271,200 to just 10,000 by 2031-32. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images Coalition’s migration plan risks breaching India Free trade agreement and damaging economy, advocates warn Angus Taylor’s drastic cuts to graduate visas aim to end a citizenship pathway, but universities body says changes will make Australia less competitive Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast The Coalition’s migration plan risks breaching Australia’s Free trade agreement with India, signed by the former Morrison government, allowing Indian students to stay and work for up to four years after completing their studies. Angus Taylor on Tuesday announced plans to cut net overseas migration to 100,000 for the first two years of a Coalition government and up to 160,000 in year four, in a plan which would abolish Temporary graduate visas, make major cuts to international student, bridging and temporary protection visas, and halve humanitarian places. Under the plan, Temporary graduate visas would be slashed from 271,200 to just 10,000 by 2031-32. The shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, said any graduate wanting to remain in Australia would have to return home and apply for a separate temporary visa. “Universities and other educational institutions have reverted to, sadly, selling a pathway to some form of permanency or perhaps even citizenship rather than education; that’s not what this scheme was set up for,” Duniam said. “Abolishing the temporary graduate visa … means we can focus on skills we need in this country, not just whatever is churned out of our universities.” Duniam said there would be a four-year transitional phase before the abolition of the temporary graduate visa. Some workers in priority areas such as health, education and in some regional areas would be allowed to remain. Phil Honeywood, the chief executive of the Australia" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="209993" data-entity-type="organization">International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), said this could breach the India Free trade agreement. A letter on the agreement, from the then Liberal trade minister Dan Tehan, in April 2022, states: “Australia agrees to maintain the following opportunities for former students to live, study and work in Australia temporarily after finishing their studies.” This includes allowing trade or diploma graduates to stay up to 18 months, bachelor graduates up to two years, bachelor graduates in Stem courses and master’s graduates up to three years, and doctoral degree graduates up to four years. Honeywood said it was “ironic” the Coalition was targeting the visa when it had negotiated special conditions with India, the second largest cohort of international students in Australia, behind China. He warned Australia would lose skilled workers in critical areas under the Coalition’s changes. He said Australia would take “money off bright young people for their qualifications” before sending them home without having the chance to benefit from their high-demand health, IT and engineering skills. Honeywood said the explosion in non-genuine international students coming to Australia was in part due to a post-Covid directive by the then Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison, who increased the number of hours international students could work in key industries. “[Morrison] opened the floodgates to non-genuine students coming out of Covid without consulting the sector, promising more work rights for international students while they were meant to study full-time,” Honeywood said. A Coalition spokesperson told Guardian Australia there would be no treaty breach, and the party would look at establishing different visa pathways for some of those graduates. “Our treaty commitments are to provide temporary visa pathways for some students to stay post their study for short periods. Which visas are provided is up to Australia,” the spokesperson said. “When we implement this policy in government we will work through with affected international partners which new visa pathways, including skilled visa pathways, their citizens can access.” 1:23 Australia announces immigration changes, including new visa policy for foreign students – video The Coalition’s plan would cut international student commencements to 240,000, below the current planning level of 295,000. But a spokesperson for the assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, said the sector was now tracking towards 250,000 commencements for this calendar year. Universities Australia said the changes risked doing “lasting damage” to Australia’s higher education sector and the economy. In a statement, its chief executive, Luke Sheehy, said removing the temporary graduate program could make Australia less attractive for students. “Restricting post-study work rights also risks making Australia less competitive for talented students and graduates at precisely the time we need more skilled people contributing to our economy.” Hill said removing the temporary graduate visa would make Australia a less attractive option and deny the country the ability to “select the brightest skilled graduates and would hurt Australian employers and industry”. He said all comparable nations had competitive postgraduate work opportunities. “Wiping out Temporary graduate visas would mean many of the brightest students will simply never choose Australia, further trashing our fourth biggest export.” Explore more on these topics Australian politics Australian immigration and asylum Coalition Angus Taylor Australian universities Australian education news Share Reuse this content