Students sit in the cloister of the quadrangle at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. (Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg) 
Australia’s Parliament was expected to debate the legislation, which the government said would cap international student commencements at 270,000 for 2025, in the coming two weeks, the final sitting period for the year.
The plan comes as the government looks for solutions to a surge in immigration and an unprecedented housing crisis ahead of a federal election due by May.
Sarah Henderson, education spokesperson for the centre-right Liberal-National coalition, said on Monday that the bill is “chaotic and confusing” and fails to address “the structural issues” the government has created.
“We cannot support measures which will only serve to compound this crisis of the government’s making. Based on their record so far we have absolutely no confidence the government is capable of fixing its immigration mess,” Henderson said in a statement. The Greens Party has also rejected the proposed laws.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has previously said he would limit net international migration, including students, to 160,000, without specifically outlining how the numbers would be achieved.
The proposed law would bring the number of new international students across higher education and vocational training back to pre-pandemic levels, the government has said.
“You can’t talk tough on immigration and then vote against putting a limit on the number of people that come to this country every year,” Education Minister Jason Clare told Parliament on Monday, responding to the Opposition’s policy shift.