But those ideas were incorrect, Mr Honeywood said, noting that international students were willing to do the jobs – such as aged care, picking fruit and commercial cleaning – that domestic students refuse to do.
And because international students pay full fees, there are no caps on how many places universities can offer, so they do not displace locals, he said.
“We wanted to educate the wider community on some of the tangible benefits of having international students,” Mr Honeywood said.
International education is Australia’s fourth-highest export industry, generating $40 billion a year, and the largest that does not rely on mining.
Among those featured in the campaign is Jerry, who came to Sydney to study biological sciences. But after seeing his friends lose their jobs and abandon their studies as the pandemic hit, he organised 12 students to travel to Orange to pick cherries that would otherwise have withered on the tree.
The Help Australia Thrive campaign includes Patti (right), who set up hip-hop dance classes to help students with mental health issues.
Ralph, from Dubai, used his nursing qualification throughout the pandemic, working 12- to 14-hour days during Melbourne’s many lockdowns.
He has since worked in regional and remote parts of Australia, including Nhill in outer Western Victoria, Thursday Island in the Torres Strait and Mildura on the Murray. He has also gained a further qualification – a graduate diploma in management – and is working as a nursing manager.
Patti from Bangkok was studying a master’s of counselling at Victoria University when she started teaching hip-hop dancing to fellow students as a way of addressing poor mental health.
Mr Honeywood said Study NSW and Study Queensland had contributed to funding the campaign, and he hoped to expand it as other states came on board.
