Online Proposal: Are international students really to blame for Australia’s housing crisis? A deeper look beyond Peter Dutton’s claims

I will write a news commentary based on a pre-election speech by Liberal-National Coalition leader Peter Dutton, who blamed the existing housing crisis on the increase in international students and immigration.

My news commentary will analyze and criticize Peter Dutton and the Coalition’s plans to reduce the number of international students by capping the number of education visas and increasing international student visa application fees.

The main argument of the news commentary is “International students in Australia are not scapegoats for the housing crisis”. To support this argument, I will provide reliable reports, statistics numbers, and ideas from my first-hand interviews.

News angle

My news angle will start with the Coalition’s new proposed plan on international students, combined with the statistics on the number of international students in recent years and the changes in Australian house prices, to refute the view that the increase in the international student numbers has caused Australia’s housing crisis. It also explains the real causes of the housing crisis and gives corresponding suggestions.

Target user group and publication

The target user group is all international students at the University of Sydney since this topic has a deep connection with their lives here, and maybe their future academic career in Australia.

My chosen publication is The Conversation, which is a fully online journalism website. Aiming at the target audience with ordinary backgrounds, use easy-to-understand language and reliable information sources to make logical and objective comments on this news event. My news commentary is suited for the Conversation’s style, which has more focus on commentary and analysis rather than news stories and hard news.

Interview plans

I’m planning to interview at least two international students in USYD and ask for their comments on Peter Dutton and the Coalition’s proposed plan, and their thoughts about whether there will be an impact on international students who are studying or preparing to study in Australia. I’m also planning to ask about their living costs in Sydney and the apartments or houses they live in, to find out how bad is the current housing crisis in Sydney. The target interviewees can be international students from any country, experiencing anxiety or stress about paying their rent and living near the USYD campus.

Sources of information

To provide solid data and information to back up my news commentary, I’m going to use the sources below:

1. Guardian’s news report on Petter Dutton’s proposed action on reducing the number of international students.
2. Guardian’s analysis of Dutton’s claim.
3. Guardian’s research on Australians’ attitude toward international students.
4. A report by the Property Council of Australia on whether international students should be responsible for the housing crisis.
5. Story about Sydney’s high apartment rent by the Sydney Morning Herald.
6. Student accommodation supply report by the Property Council of Australia.
7. Detailed research on scapegoating international students for the housing crisis on Springer Nature.
8. Annual student accommodation report by Amber, an online student accommodation booking platform.

Online Delivery

For the commentary’s online delivery, I will embed every source I used and the graphs that help understand the figures. I will also embed posts and audio/video links about Peter Dutton’s claims into the article.