Post by Admin on Jun 13, 2020 23:25:48 GMT
'Ripple effect' on property market and other sectors
Jie Shen, chief executive and founder of EASI, a food delivery company based in Melbourne, said international students make up a large segment of his client base in Australia.
"The prosperity of the hospitality industry needs the support of a [good and stable] economic environment. The travel warning to Chinese international students is naturally a blow, but we hope for the best," he said.
But the economic pain isn't restricted to the hospitality industry — there are concerns it could have a "ripple effect" on the housing market and investment, too.
Mortgage broker Thomas Tang, from AUSUN finance, said investment properties in suburbs with high student numbers, like Burwood and Clayton in Melbourne, now had "a very high vacancy rate".
"Some [people] couldn't repay their mortgage, because they have lost their job," he said.
He said before the pandemic, between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of his business relied on non-residents, including former and future international students.
He said Beijing's message undermined confidence for Chinese investors in Australia, and he predicted "we will see less investment from China".
Australia needs to address racism in a 'systematic way'
But beyond the political rhetoric, Mr Tang said racist incidents "sadly exist" — even if they didn't reflect Australian values, and that created "a bad image" and could deter students of other Asian backgrounds too.
"So now we're going to lose a lot of confidence from not just China but [from a] lot of other Asian countries as well, such as Japan or Korea or Thailand," he said.
Wesa Chau, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Foundation for Australia-China Relations, said COVID-19 had already seen some students cancel their courses.
Aside from the university and hospitality sectors, "other sectors impacted will include accommodation providers and tourism, as many of [the] students' parents come to Australia to travel," she said.
"Having said that, I think Australia still need to address the issue of racism towards Chinese-Australians," she said, adding racism impacts mental health, and pointing to recent calls from the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia and others to implement a national anti-racism strategy.
Jie Shen, chief executive and founder of EASI, a food delivery company based in Melbourne, said international students make up a large segment of his client base in Australia.
"The prosperity of the hospitality industry needs the support of a [good and stable] economic environment. The travel warning to Chinese international students is naturally a blow, but we hope for the best," he said.
But the economic pain isn't restricted to the hospitality industry — there are concerns it could have a "ripple effect" on the housing market and investment, too.
Mortgage broker Thomas Tang, from AUSUN finance, said investment properties in suburbs with high student numbers, like Burwood and Clayton in Melbourne, now had "a very high vacancy rate".
"Some [people] couldn't repay their mortgage, because they have lost their job," he said.
He said before the pandemic, between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of his business relied on non-residents, including former and future international students.
He said Beijing's message undermined confidence for Chinese investors in Australia, and he predicted "we will see less investment from China".
Australia needs to address racism in a 'systematic way'
But beyond the political rhetoric, Mr Tang said racist incidents "sadly exist" — even if they didn't reflect Australian values, and that created "a bad image" and could deter students of other Asian backgrounds too.
"So now we're going to lose a lot of confidence from not just China but [from a] lot of other Asian countries as well, such as Japan or Korea or Thailand," he said.
Wesa Chau, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Foundation for Australia-China Relations, said COVID-19 had already seen some students cancel their courses.
Aside from the university and hospitality sectors, "other sectors impacted will include accommodation providers and tourism, as many of [the] students' parents come to Australia to travel," she said.
"Having said that, I think Australia still need to address the issue of racism towards Chinese-Australians," she said, adding racism impacts mental health, and pointing to recent calls from the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia and others to implement a national anti-racism strategy.