In a recent post to social media site Linkedin, Business Sydney boss, Paul Nicolaou states “Sydney loves and appreciates international students and back packers. Without them our wonderful city would struggle”.
This comes as the federal government continues to retract the international student sector. Nicolaou further states, “But it’s certainly time that we stopped treating international students, and backpackers, too, as the enemy. Both groups make a positive contribution to Sydney’s economy, especially in the hospitality sector.”
Right he is.
TKN has previously warned (TKN 12/3/24) of the medium to long-term effects of drastically decreasing international students.
On March 8, the AFR ran a piece titled “Foreign Students are Saving the Economy.” The author, Michael Read points out “Spending by international students accounted for more than half of Australia’s economic growth in 2023, according to new research warning that a sharp increase in visa refusal rates will be a headwind to growth this year.”
“NAB senior economists Brody Viney and Taylor Nugent said about 40 per cent of spending by international students was tuition fees, while the remaining 60 per cent was on the consumption of goods and services in Australia.”
It appears the Business community gets it too.
Congratulations to Nicolaou and Business Sydney for making this stand and the Koala hopes this sentiment is shared wider.
Nicolaou’s post is following:
Sydney loves and appreciate international students and back packers. Without them our wonderful city would struggle.
It’s too easy to unfairly identify “villains” contributing to higher housing costs in Sydney in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and it’s patently wrong that international students are being stigmatised in that way.
But it’s certainly time that we stopped treating international students, and backpackers too, as the enemy. Both groups make a positive contribution to Sydney’s economy, especially in the hospitality sector.
There is new evidence that confirms international students are as much victims of high rents and housing shortages as any other group of Sydneysiders.
A new report commissioned by the Property Council of Australia and the Student Accommodation Council has confirmed that international students represent just four per cent of Australia’s rental market, hardly enough to skew the rental market one way or the other.
See report via this link https://lnkd.in/gq-ZSiag
The study also shows the rental squeeze in Sydney had started in 2020 in the absence of international students during the pandemic.
So, it’s time we stopped treating international students as the enemy because, without them, Sydney could not function. Along with backpackers, they take on jobs that locals don’t want to do, making them vital to the operation of cafes, restaurants, pubs and other service orientated businesses.
Let’s just remember that Sydney’s economy would be lost without them. Let international students and backpackers know they are welcome in our wonderful city.
