Australia – International Students Flocking To Sydney And Melbourne Strain Housing

Just as Professor Hamilton stated before US Congress yesterday, it is indeed no secret that international (read Asian) students are all flocking to Australia as the classes are being taught in perfect English and the economics and finance courses are in high demand.

Mr Hamilton confirmed that the universities are keen to keep these well-paying international students on board and thus direct their courses to please Asian nations in a way: “it is no exaggeration to say that Australian universities now tiptoe over eggshells to avoid any action that may offend party bosses in China” (see our related coverage).

Related coverage: http://thegoldwater.com/news/24309-Clive-Hamilton-China-Wages-Psychological-Warfare-On-Australia

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also agreed to the numbers: "There are around 200,000 more foreign students in Australia today than there were a few years ago."

"So if you feel there are more foreigners on the tram and you can't get a seat on the tram, that is because of that, if that's your perception."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Australia is not ready for an &#39;overwhelming&#39; 525,000-a-year influx of international students with &#39;nowhere near enough&#39; room to put them up, experts warn. <a href="https://t.co/ni30vJWM7O">https://t.co/ni30vJWM7O</a></p>&mdash; #aupol news (@AupolNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/AupolNews/status/989792773464363008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2018</a></blockquote>

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However, the issue for Australians themselves is that the 12% year on year increase in the number of new immigrants arriving in the country is overstretching the available infrastructure and (importantly) is expected to drive up rental prices in the areas around the universities.

Whereas the universities (most new migrants can be found around Sydney and Melbourne) argue that the state should build more ‘affordable housing’, they in turn claim that the academic institutions should use the additional funds begotten from those said international students to provide rooms and housing near the university grounds themselves until the state can catch up. The 12% year on year rise is impossible to follow for state funded house building.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">International students are flocking to Australia, but the country&#39;s infrastructure is not ready <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/internationalstudentsflockingintoaustralia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#internationalstudentsflockingintoaustralia</a> <a href="https://t.co/KCfDL3elqp">https://t.co/KCfDL3elqp</a></p>&mdash; Enterprise for Employment (@ent4emp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ent4emp/status/990055014700847104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Professor Glen Searle of Sydney University: "There's been quite a build-up of student accommodation, but it's nowhere near enough."

"Universities, perhaps with some Federal Government funding, should be directing some of their fees into providing their own accommodation."

Source:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-27/international-students-infrastructure-migration-housing/9693256