Trade Minister Don Farrell was asked a friendly question about the state of international education in the Senate yesterday. He used the opportunity to be nice about Austrade, Austrade!

The minister answered that international education is recovering from the damage done by the previous government, notably PM Morrison telling international students to go home at the start of the pandemic. “Its recovery is testament to the quality education our institutions offer and the hard work of industry and government agencies,” Senator Farrell said.

Including AusTrade, the dedicated staff of which, in 36 locations, are “working hard to support the sector’s recovery.” Unique page views of the Study Australia website are up 28 per cent on ’22.

So that’s that sorted.

Curiously, the question did not include the present accommodation shortage for international students.