Australian universities to fight race image in Asia

Australian universities to fight race image in Asia

SYDNEY (Reuter): Australian universities will launch a
marketing drive into Asia to counter negative publicity by race
row politician Pauline Hanson, which they believe is threatening
Australia's lucrative overseas student industry.

"The international reputation of Australia and all its
universities is being harmed by ill-informed comments," eight
Australian universities said in a statement yesterday.

"The group of eight universities ... plans to counter adverse
publicity such as that generated by Pauline Hanson and to raise
the profile and standing of Australian higher education," it
said.

The universities said they would set up their own overseas
marketing arm in Southeast Asia and create their own performance
assessment program.

The group comprises Australia's traditional research
universities -- Adelaide, the Australian National University,
Monash, Melbourne, New South Wales, Queensland, Sydney and
Western Australia.

"We intend to set up our own network in Southeast Asia of
information officers, so that we can get on with the business of
making sure there is excellent Australian higher education being
demonstrated to people," University of Sydney vice chancellor
Gavin Brown said.

Australia's export education industry is worth A$3 billion
(US$2.2 billion) a year, but recent immigration data has shown
falls in the number of student visas being issued.

In the past year the growth in overseas students declined
between four to 60 percent in eight of the top 11 countries from
which Australia draws most of its overseas students.

From Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan -- countries where
Australia's bitter race debate has gained widespread media
coverage -- student numbers have acutely fallen.