Claims by mainstream political parties that foreign students at Australia's universities deprive locals of rental housing are absolutely unfounded, driven by some "Trump think", targeting a group that has no means to defend itself against such baseless claims.
The latest shot fired in this matter from the federal Liberal Leader, Peter Dutton, is aimed at middle Australia and latte sipping, inner-city dwelling voters.
The fact is that a study released as recently as March 2025 debunked the claim of any link between foreign students and rental housing shortages in Australia.
University of South Australia researchers examined statistics between 2017 and 2024 to conclude there was no link whatsoever between student numbers and the cost of rent.
The findings were supported by the Property Council of Australia.
Any policy that cuts overseas student numbers will have a significant impact on the jobs of the 240,000 plus workers in the higher education sector.
Both political parties need to stop using the overseas student issues as a political football and start owning the real cause of the housing crisis – decades of poor policy decisions…this economic vandalism must stop.
