Newsroom

August 14, 2024

KAP Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter has warned that student visas are a backdoor pathway to permanency. He warns that an immediate pull-back is needed, particularly from countries that don’t share the same values as Australia, while Australia is enduring a housing and affordability crisis.

Speaking in the House of Representatives on the Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024, Mr Katter said the issue was “much bigger” than simply shutting down the “ghost universities” racquet (fake universities offering international students a pathway into Australia via a student visa).

Mr Katter said he strongly supported the bill but emphasised the urgent need to address deeper issues associated with the current student visa program. In a powerful speech, he highlighted the broader implications of unchecked student migration from countries that do not share Australia's core values and cultural foundations.

"Everyone in this country knows the problem is not simply just the “ghost universities”. It goes much further than that. The government clearly, in trying to make it look like they're doing something about immigration, is dealing with two per cent of the problem instead of the 98 per cent of the problem they should be dealing with.

“This country doesn't want any immigrants at present —54,000 families can't find a home in this country, yet the government continues to bring in half a million people.”

He recounted a conversation with a recently arrived family who had entered Australia on student visas.

"It's really easy to get a student visa. You always get a student visa to get into the country, and you can get your family in on that too" the woman had told him.

“We have immigration numbers exploding to over half a million each year – and that is just student visas with families,” he said.

Katter pointed out that such cases are not isolated, and they reveal how the student visa system is being used as a backdoor for permanent migration, often with minimal contribution to Australia's educational sector or broader society.

He also raised concerns about the cultural and societal impact of allowing large numbers of students from countries with vastly different values to settle in Australia. He noted, "If you bring them in from countries that share our values, they tick every box. They can harmonise into our community extremely well. But that can’t be said for people coming in from the Middle East where there are four or, arguably, five wars going on at the present moment, and that's always the way it is.

“These are people that don’t share our way of life – they come from countries with no industrial relations, no award wages, no democracy, no egalitarian traditions, no Christianity (love your neighbour, make the world a better place).

“Surely if you’re going to be bringing people into Australia, then they should be able to harmonise with our way of life.

“And for those that think I’m being anti-Muslim, I am on record on numerous occasions praising our neighbours, the people of Indonesia. They've been wonderful neighbours to us.  I've had a lot of interface with them with live cattle issues and I couldn't speak more highly of them.”

Mr Katter said the Bill must be immediately amended to ensure student visas are only granted to those genuinely committed to temporarily residing in Australia while studying.