A new international student cap is a welcome reduction but 270,000 per annum is still too high, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA), particularly in light of the government’s expressed intention of keeping net overseas migration (NOM) to 260,000 p.a. SPA national president Peter Strachan says excessive numbers of overseas students have contributed to unacceptably high levels of NOM which now makes up four-fifths of Australia’s population growth. “Record levels of population growth (2.5% p.a.) have had a detrimental effect on Australia, not just from a housing perspective, but environmentally as well,” says Mr Strachan. “The Australian government has allowed net migration of one million in 2022-24 and will go very close to 1.5 million, for the whole 2022-25 electoral cycle. “Labor has perverted the purpose of education, not just by making universities and colleges dependent on the fees paid by international students, but … Continued