David Jennings,
Name one thing produced in Australia that a foregin student spends their money on (except food).

Name one university in Australia that places any emphasis at all on using Australian textbooks or Australian software.

"David Jennings,
Name one thing produced in Australia that a foregin student spends their money on (except food)."

Newspapers. Real estate. Public transport. ... tuition...

"Name one university in Australia that places any emphasis at all on using Australian textbooks or Australian software."

Can't help you on software. Pretty sure we all use Microsoft.
But textbooks ... could you be more out of touch with academia? Every lecturer prescribes their own book. Most of which are published in Australia by the Australian arm of whichever publishing company they've signed with.

This whole sorry saga is testament to the corporatisation of education and training. No longer is it about needs but about the pursuit of profit and taking advantage of international students whose main purpose is to gain residency, many having no interest in hairdressing or cooking.

Immigration is big business characteristed by a swathe of shonky colleges, migration agents and legal professionals all weighing in for a share of the spoils.

It is true that changes to government policy impact business and others who depend on those businesses, however that is the nature of business and happens in scenarios where short term subsidies see a flurry of new businesses cashing while the money is available, such as with programs like solar subsidies, Green loans, water grants, and insulation splashes.

For the reputable colleges they can adapt and evolve by offering the courses that are now seen as viable. Many of these colleges are foreign owned so much of the money has left our shores. I wonder just how important the spin-off rewards are when it means exploiting eager students.

There would be a good case for compensation for students who were victims of shonky colleges, to enable them to return home none the worse for wear in the case of incompleted courses. As for college though, this is the nature of business and like any other business you have to roll with the punches, continually evolving and adapting if you are to be successful.

If you take advantage of short-term government subsidies or quick-fix policies be prepared to take the good with the bad.

What is to prevent existing colleges from changing their course structures. English language is still very much in demand for refugees and new immigrants. Age care nurses and carers is another growth industry which is finding recruitment difficult.

David jennings,
Most newspapers are multinational.
Buying Australian real estate is NOT an export industry.
Most public transport (such as busses and trains) is imported (and Australian oil is also running out).
Tuition.-. Now there is the gist of the matter.

How much of the so called “export industry” of teaching foreign students is actually benefiting a very few people, (who carry out such things as tuition), while it is of minimal benefit to the rest of the rest of the country.

Teaching foreign students has been a giant rort.

As for textbooks, a student can do a whole course in a so called Australain university, and never once use a textbook produced in Australia. Similar is also occurring in high schools.

As for software, a student can start in pre-school, and go right through to university, and never once use any software produced in Australia.

It doesn’t say much for the Australian education system that teaches computing.

What crap. They can't win with you can they? Lets just close the borders then and all be poor.

I can hardly count but 17 billion divided by 212000 students seems awfully large an amount for each student.
I fail to see how any student local or foreign ever becomes a benefit to our society apart from the average .1 % of graduates.