Why we want foreign students with a commitment to Australia

Last summer, BC — Before Covid — a friend and I strolled around Canberra’s university precinct, called ‘The China Quarter’ by some locals, to talk some of ANU’s international students, most busy slurping spicy Szechuan dishes, while Hong Kong pop almost –- not quite– drowned out the buzz of conversation. We stopped at one table where one diner recognised my friend from an earlier meeting; they both spoke the Beijing dialect, making for easy, ice-breaking small talk.  

Yes, they liked the university, but why were the academics so strict? They were being paid by students to teach, there was no need to penalise someone for cut-and-paste essays from the internet, surely? And Canberra was well, boring. They…