Dollars - that is all Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce is interested in when it comes to the foreign student rip-off industry.



The National government eyes are so aglow with the claimed $3.3 billion the overseas students are bringing to the country every year, they forget about the ethics and standards that should be applied.



Quite simply, they have set a target of making $5 billion by 2025 and come hell or high water, that’s what they are after.



They couldn’t give a fig for the widespread shady goings-on – the Mickey Mouse courses, the corrupt agents, the exploitation of the students by crooked employers, the students left high and dry here facing deportation because they’ve been given false documents, and the negative impact on our international reputation.



How farcical it is that Government officials put an Indian education agent on a list of fraudsters and then other government officials gave this same agent a stamp of approval and a licence.



When this became known earlier in the week did Mr Joyce act like a responsible minister, express disappointment and comment that this serious matter would be investigated?



Of course not.



Mr Joyce keeps his gaze firmly fixed on a fictional dollar target and forgets about any morality or decency.



The students are being treated as pawns – by crooked agents, money obsessed education businesses and the government.



Mr Joyce is encouraging people trafficking.



If you bring people into the country, force them to get low wages on the basis that they will be able to stay, give them a work permit as well, and then rule they can’t stay because of the illegality they’re involved in – then this is a form of people trafficking.



As we have seen if things get sticky on this issue, Mr Joyce will duck for cover and shift responsibility onto others.



His response when it was revealed thousands of students are arriving with false visas was to say, it’s the education businesses not the government’s responsibility.



That’s ducking for cover.



Unfortunately, this is something we’ve come to expect from Mr Joyce.

source: data archive