FOREIGN – AUSTRALIA

Overseas students to cop 25pc visa fee hike

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Original article by Natasha Bita
The Australian – Page: 7 : 29-Apr-25

International students currently pay $1,600 to apply for a visa, but the federal government proposes to increase this to $2,000 from 1 July. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says the 25 per cent increase is a "sensible and modest change" that puts an appropriate price on the benefits of studying in Australia. However, Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy says the nation already has the world’s highest student visa fees, while the Regional Universities Network has warned that the proposed increase will affect the desirability and competitiveness of Australia in the international education market.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA LIMITED, REGIONAL UNIVERSITIES NETWORK

Dutton playing Donald Trump anti-migration card in plan to slash international students, higher education peak body says

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Original article by Caitlin Cassidy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Apr-25

International Education Association of Australia CEO, Phil Honeywood says the Coalition did not consult with the sector on its proposal to cap new international student numbers at 240,000 a year. This is skewed towards TAFE and private vocational education and training providers, rather than the nation’s public universities. Honeywood notes that the Coalition has traditionally been more inclined to support independent providers over their public counterparts. Former immigration bureaucrat Abul Rizvi in turn notes that the private VET sector has a history of "rorts and dodgy qualifications".

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

I’ll cut more foreign students: Dutton

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Original article by Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 5 : 20-Nov-24

The Coalition is under scrutiny for joining forces with the Greens to block legislation to cap new international student numbers from 2025. Education Minister Jason Clare says Opposition leader Peter Dutton has no credibility with regard to immigration, given that he stated in his budget reply speech in May that a Coalition government would introduce a cap on international students. Dutton says the Coalition will pursue a more aggressive reduction in international students than Labor. Meanwhile, former bureaucrat Abul Rizvi says the Coalition’s policy of reducing net overseas migration to 160,000 in 2025-26 would not be possible without a big increase in the unemployment rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Overseas student numbers expected to drop by 100,000

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Original article by Julie Hare
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-23

Experts say the federal government’s new visa requirements on international students will help to ‘weed’ out people who are seeking to use the student visa system as a ‘back door’ to the Australian jobs market. Internal government estimates indicate that the new requirements could see the number of foreign students coming to Australia to study fall by around 70,000, while 38,000 graduates could find themselves being sent home for failing to meet English-language tests.

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Protect critical minerals: Lynas

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Original article by Matt Bell
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 5-Dec-23

Lynas Rare Earths CEO Amanda Lacaze says Australia should not give up control of its mineral firms, particularly those involved in the supply of critical minerals. She was speaking at the Australian British Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Rare Earth and Lithium – The Australian Advantage’ event, while Pilbara Minerals CEO Dale Henderson told the event that the recent decision by the US Department of Energy to bar lithium companies with substantial Chinese ownership from getting access to US grants was "not good news".

CORPORATES
LYNAS RARE EARTHS LIMITED – ASX LYC, AUSTRALIAN-BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF ENERGY

Foreign ownership of gold mines would rise above 50pc if Newmont-Newcrest deal goes ahead, analyst says

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Original article by Jarrod Lucas
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Mar-23

Data from Surbiton Associates shows that Australia produced 313 tonnes of gold in 2022, which is equivalent to 10 million ounces. This compares with 315 tonnes in 2021 and a record 327 tonnes in 2020. Surbiton MD Sandra Close notes that Australian ownership of local gold mines is currently about 60 per cent, but this would fall to below 50 per cent if Newmont’s $24bn takeover bid for Newcrest Mining succeeds. Close adds that local ownership of the gold industry was around 80 per cent in the early 2000s, before offshore buying activity saw it fall to a low of less than 30 per cent.

CORPORATES
SURBITON ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, NEWMONT CORPORATION

ACCC green-lights Afterpay megadeal

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Original article by James Eyers, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 6-Nov-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has advised that it will not oppose the acquisition of ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Afterpay by US-based Square. The proposed $39bn deal will now be put to a virtual special meeting of Afterpay’s shareholders on 6 December, and chair Elana Rubin has urged them to support the transaction. The deal has also been approved by US antitrust regulators, and it is expected to be cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board ahead of the shareholders’ meeting.

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AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, SQUARE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Work visa sweetener for uni students

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Original article by Tim Dodd, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Jul-20

Australian universities and state governments had been hoping to start bringing international students back into the country from the end of July. However, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Victoria has put these plans on hold. In an attempt to help Australian universities to remain competitive with rivals in Canada and Britain, it is believed that the federal government will grant post-study visas to foreign students who are enrolled in Australian universities but have had to return to their home countries and study online. Currently, only overseas students who study in Australia are awarded graduate work rights.

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Don’t go, Beijing warns students

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Original article by Richard Ferguson, Tim Dodd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Jun-20

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has rejected the Chinese government’s claim that Australia is not a safe destination for international students. China’s Ministry of Education has advised the nation’s students against studying in Australia, claiming that people of Asian appearance have been targeted in ‘discriminatory attacks’ during the coronavirus pandemic. Shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek has supported Tehan’s comments, stating that Australia is one of the safest countries for international students. Beijing also recently advised Chinese tourists against visiting Australia due to allegations of racist attacks.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, CHINA. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Top unis face $1.2bn virus hit

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Original article by Tim Dodd, Adam Creighton, Jill Rowbotham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Feb-20

The value of Australia’s education exports to China topped $12bn in 2019; analysis by the Centre for Independent Studies suggests that this could fall by up to 40 per cent in 2020, even if the coronavirus outbreak has been contained by June. Meanwhile, 10 of Australia’s top universities – including the so-called Group of Eight – could lose up to $1.2bn worth of fees from Chinese students who have been affected by the federal government’s travel ban. It has prevented about 65,000 students from arriving in Australia for the start of the academic year.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED