Senator MARIELLE SMITH (South Australia) (16:21): I, too, rise to speak on this matter of urgency moved by Senator McKim, and on one thing we agree: the value of Australia's international education sector. It is a vital part of our economy, and international students are a valuable part of our communities. That's why it's important that we progress reforms that strengthen the sector's integrity and sustainability. Such reforms will ensure that students have a brilliant experience in Australia and go on to be proud ambassadors for our country and our values when they return home. I want to make it absolutely clear that our government is committed to this sector and its future. That's why, subject to the passage of legislation which is currently before the Senate, the government will set a national planning level for new overseas student commencements of 270,000 for 2025, divided between the higher education and the VET sectors. Since the pandemic, international enrolment numbers have surged more strongly than anyone expected and, unfortunately, some of these enrolments are people who seek to work in Australia, not study. That needs to happen through the appropriate pathways. We have also clearly seen a resurgence of unscrupulous operators who are focused on profit over delivering quality education. That leads to bad outcomes for students—students whom we want to have an amazing and transformative experience in our education system; students whom, as I said, we want to return to their countries with nothing but positivity and share with others about their time in Australia and the education that they received here. That's why the government has taken these measures to deliver sustainable growth for our international education system into the future. This policy will ensure that students coming to Australia can be confident that they are investing in a high-quality education and study experience. Since the pandemic we have seen that the previous, unmanaged system presented unacceptable risks to the quality of international education received by students and that it would ultimately undermine the strength of our sector and its reputation internationally. The government has released indicative international student profiles, using a transparent formula that has been designed to ensure that regional universities, in particular, whose enrolments have generally not returned to prepandemic levels, have room to recover from the pandemic and continue to grow. These proposals do not decimate the sector, as this motion claims. They do not cut enrolments by 90 per cent or any of the other misleading numbers that members of this chamber have claimed. The fact is that, overall, public universities will be able to take roughly the same number of new students next year as they did last year. For publicly funded universities, our government's approach will result in around 145,000 new overseas student commencements in 2025, which is close to last year's number. Senator Henderson: Regional universities are going backwards. Only the group of eight are— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Polley ): Senator Henderson, you were heard in silence. Senator MARIELLE SMITH: I thought it was my turn to speak, but that's alright. I'll keep going. Almost all universities—89 per cent—have received an indicative allocation for 2025 at or above their 2019 level. That includes the three great universities in my home state of South Australia, all of which have received an indicative allocation higher than their new overseas student commencements in 2023. Honourable senators interjecting— Senator MARIELLE SMITH: I have interjections about misinformation from the Greens, which is hilarious. Perhaps, Acting Deputy President, you could— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I would remind senators that others are being heard in silence, and I would appreciate the same courtesy. Senator Smith, you have the call. Senator MARIELLE SMITH: After nine years of mismanagement by those opposite, we are working to get our higher education sector back on track. We are trying to do so in a way which advances and supports a quality international education offering and which leads to a positive experience for students when they come to Australia. We're also doing what we can to support those students in Australia for whom university is the pathway that they prefer, that they choose and that they seek to have a transformational benefit from—for Australian students to be able to go to university—and we're supporting them to do so by wiping $3 billion in student debt for more than three million Australians. We're making higher education more accessible and more affordable for students. That follows the landmark Australian Universities Accord final report which contains 47 recommendations and targets to reform higher education and set it up for the next decade and beyond. We're already progressing this work by committing to suburban hubs and regional university study hubs and expanding access to First Nations students in particular. I visited a number of these student hubs around regional South Australia. They offer a huge benefit to students who wish to further their education but do so in a way where they can stay at home, continue studying at home and continue studying their prac placements at home.