International Students and Temporary Visa Holders

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:48): I rise to bring attention to the plight of international students and temporary visa holders who have been left abandoned as a result of callous federal government policy. Last Thursday, Mental Health Commissioner David Kelly raised serious concerns about our COVID-19 mental health response, including a lack of support for international students, people from culturally diverse backgrounds and migrants coping with language barriers.

These visitors to Australia who have contributed to our economy, often for very meagre wages, have been left out of these assistant packages designed to help people navigate their way through lockdowns, shutdowns and massive job losses. These are people we welcome in better times and we are more than happy to have them do the tough and often unrewarding jobs. The government is also happy for them to contribute to our economy through a range of taxes, including the GST.

Many of these jobs are linked to the events, entertainment or hospitality industries that have been shut down during COVID-19 restrictions. Welfare payments helping Australians through these difficult times are often not available to these students and to people on temporary visas. Temporary visa holders have been ignored in the federal government's $130 billion support package to get us through COVID restrictions.

Federal minister and deputy Senate leader the Hon. Kristina Keneally, shadow minister for immigration and citizenship, wrote to the federal government imploring them to extend these packages to people on temporary visas, only to be totally ignored.

The argument could be made that these people are not Australian citizens, but they have been working here and helping our economy as both workers and spenders. But even if they hadn't been significant contributors to our economy—which most are—does that really matter? Where is the humanity in this approach? We cannot stand by and simply allow people to lose their jobs and, unable to return to their home countries, to effectively remain stranded, sometimes homeless and starving, during these most trying of times.

If they had the opportunity to return to their home countries, almost certainly they would be paying premium prices. I have heard of many cases where a flight that once cost $1,000 now costs as much as $4,000 one way. So these people cannot go home, cannot afford to pay rent, and some are eating only because food centres are not discriminating against them. The federal government could learn something from these service providers.

International students are sometimes in an even more precarious position. They are losing the work they do while studying and also have the added burden of still having to pay their course fees, many of which have not been adjusted despite the courses being reduced or done online because the usual facilities are not available.

New Zealand and Canada, countries we often align ourselves with on social and humanitarian matters, have both done a lot more than we have to assist people in similar circumstances. Both nations have extended wage subsidies to temporary visa holders. We pride ourselves on being a fair go nation, but our government has washed its hands of these visitors because they are not Australian citizens.

Curiously, the JobKeeper wage subsidy was available to New Zealanders living here who were unable to apply for Centrelink payments from the outset but not to other visitors. I am not sure what message to take out of that. Is the government saying some visitors are more worthy than others? These people we have welcomed on visas are good enough to work here and spend their money here, but when times get tough we have just left them out in the cold—literally out in the cold.

A recent study by the University of Technology, Sydney, found that up to one in seven international students were now homeless through the impact of COVID-19 and lack of support. We have courted international students, built an economic model around attracting them and deserted them when times have got tough.

These international students contribute billions of dollars in fees in this country, they spend billions of dollars in rents and living expenses, and many of these people will actually become Australian citizens eventually. Is this the way we want to treat our future Australian citizens? If this is an oversight, it is a shocking one and needs to be corrected immediately. If it is a deliberate decision on the behalf of this government, it is a blight on Australia's sense of fairness.