Education is an $18 billion export. All those international students who study here are classed as exports and it has become big business for our universities and colleges along with the economy.

But student visas are down 30 per cent because of a tightening in the eligibility conditions.

The Howard Government allowed graduating students to stay after they finished their degrees, apply for skilled migration status and eventually permanent residency. In other words, come and study in Australia and you’ll have a great chance of being able to stay here.

Obviously this became a massive migration rort and the current Government tightened conditions. But that tightening has gone too far and students are heading to the more visa friendly competitors like the US and Canada.

We shouldn’t return to the old rorting days but the new draconian rules need to be relaxed for legitimate students and to encourage a major export sector to thrive.

After all, migrants are nothing to be scared about. They can bring skills, money and brainpower to Australia and it’s what this country has been built on.

It has been disgraceful how migration has become a political football. Everyone talks about the threat to the economy of our current skills shortage and then we slash migrant numbers.

It’s crazy and we have to fix it. Over the last year there has been a 41 per cent drop in skilled migration numbers.

We don’t want an open door policy. We need a well run and targeted program which sees the right people coming here with the right skills to do the right jobs and set up the right businesses to create jobs.