Opinion Editorial by Brenton Cox, Adelaide Airport Managing Director - The Advertiser’s Future SA Campaign

Opinion Editorial by Brenton Cox – Adelaide Airport Managing Director

Adelaide Airport connects South Australia with the world, but recent history reminds us that the ability to travel is not a given. When an airline commits to fly to any city, it must be the most sustainably profitable option at that time. Airlines rightly demand a high degree of confidence in future travel demand, and international students are directly and indirectly a large part of that demand. The visitor economy, including aviation, relies upon international students. It is also in Australia’s interests to protect our largest services export - worth more than our exports of gold.

Australia’s competitive advantage in international education makes us a significantly wealthier nation but international students remain a political target for our housing supply issues. The Federal Government has sought to implement Canadian-style caps, and the alternative government has a policy position to “reduce the number of international students studying at metropolitan universities”. This is not fact-based policy as international students do not own homes and make up only 5 per cent of the rental market in Adelaide. Rather than undermining a valuable national competitive advantage, a better focus would be on international border management and housing supply.

On an average international flight, 16 per cent of people visiting Adelaide are international students. These students spend billions each year enriching Australians and resourcing our research and development. When they leave, they become walking, talking billboards for our city, state and nation. With more than 55,000 enrolments in the past year, international students currently studying here contribute $3.2 billion per annum to our state’s prosperity. In addition, more than 60 per cent of students are visited by family and friends while studying. On an average international flight, 55 per cent of non-residents are visiting family and friends. Many of our existing airlines would not be flying to Adelaide without this demand.

Australia’s social licence for immigration has been diminished and international education is a scapegoat for a housing supply crisis. Canada also mis-diagnosed the problem. They sought to blame border mismanagement and housing prices on their education exports. Their caps stopped the growth of their student market, but it shrunk the industry significantly more than planned by disrespecting their source markets and inflicting enduring brand damage. We need to learn from our international education competitor’s mistakes.

A policy focus on strong borders can ensure the highest quality immigration in Australia’s interests. Resources invested in more sophisticated visa management processes technology will allow us to be more deliberate and intelligent - making it quick and easy for those that we want to come to Australia while providing an efficient ‘no’ for those we do not want. This is a better focus than hurting our exports and hip pockets.

Our border agencies need investment simultaneously in frontline resources and in the productivity of back-of-house visa processes. Approximately $1.1 billion is collected by the Federal Government’s Passenger Movement Charge but less than half is spent on frontline border management. Our nation deserves shorter wait times for visas and at our borders, matched by increased back-of-house analytical processes and capabilities. This is one of the more direct control levers for managing our population and housing demand.

Adelaide Airport for its part is investing $600 million into core aviation infrastructure capacity in line with demand as our regulatory system encourages nimble coordination with our customers to match supply with impending demand. The Productivity Commission is regularly tasked with ensuring this regulation achieves the public outcome of cost-effective right-timed infrastructure capacity.  

We suggest this nimble approach similarly be applied by governments to rapidly improve the infrastructure required to support housing supply. Combined with a better resourced border, the community, as it has done previously, will then trust that the country is benefitting from a sustainable immigration program.

South Australia needs to focus on growing international education. The sustainability of our connections with the world depends up on it.