A campaigner against high immigration was told at the last minute he wouldn’t be allowed to ask a question on Q+A suggesting international student numbers should be slashed.
Jordan Knight, the founder of Migration Watch Australia, was initially given a spot to ask a question on Monday night’s program but a producer called him two hours before the show to say he wouldn’t be permitted to ask his question at the ABC’s Sydney studios.
The reason given was that Mr Knight, 30, works as a political adviser for an independent upper house MP in the NSW Parliament.
But his ban comes after a Greens campaigner was last week allowed to ask a question on the show suggesting that international students were being unfairly blamed for the housing crisis.
Mr Knight, who works for MP Rod Roberts, had planned to ask about Australia housing 800,000 international students during a rental vacancy crisis.
Knight had planned to put his question to Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar, Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally and the ABC’s finance commentator Alan Kohler, asking if the high number of international students was worsening Australia’s rental crisis.
‘Australia has more foreign students than Great Britain and almost as many as the United States,’ his submitted question said.
‘Meanwhile, we have record low rental vacancy rates, people are paying 50 per cent of their wage on rent.
‘My question is this. Does the panel believe that housing Australians is more important than educating foreign students?
Jordan Knight, the founder of Migration Watch Australia, was initially given a spot to ask a question on Monday night’s program but a producer later called him to say he wouldn’t be asking his question at the ABC’s Sydney studios
‘And if so, will they reduce the number of foreign students in the country to 50,000, in order to free up housing for Australians?’
Mr Knight told Daily Mail Australia a producer later called him on Monday afternoon to say he wouldn’t be able to ask his question because he of his employment in a political role.
He argued that was hypocritical.
‘Full disclosure, her excuse was that I was a staffer but I checked last week, they allowed a Greens campaigner to ask a question,’ he said.
On Monday last week, Greens campaigner Sophia Redjeb was allowed to ask a question, during Q+A’s Dandenong broadcast in outer Melbourne.
She suggested that international students were being unfairly blamed for the housing crisis.
‘International students provide a significant economic boost, yet they’re facing a cap while also being charged exorbitant fees,’ she said.
‘How do you justify blaming these students for the pressures on cities when the real issues lie in housing shortages and cost of living crises?’
Ms Redjeb’s LinkedIn profile said that she started a job with The Greens three months ago as a ‘photographer, writer and aspiring journalist’.
An ABC spokeswoman insisted that Mr Knight and Ms Redjeb’s situations were different.
‘Jordan Knight is a paid staffer. Q+A doesn’t take questions from paid political staffers,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Sophia Redjeb was interning for the Greens.’
On Monday last week, Greens campaigner Sophia Redjeb was allowed to ask a question suggesting international students were being unfairly blamed for the housing crisis
Mr Knight said the ABC rules disallowing political staffers were unfair. His boss Mr Roberts, a former cop, was elected in 2019 on former Labor leader Mark Latham’s One Nation ticket.
‘I find it frustrating that staffers don’t get a say in their own national broadcaster that their tax dollars pay for,’ he said.
Monday night’s Q+A program featured a question from Hammad Ali, a first-generation migrant, asking if he had created a housing crisis in Australia, and another from Ronan MacSweeney asking if reducing international student numbers would solve Australia’s housing crisis.
Education Minister Jason Clare last month announced a plan to cap international student numbers at 260,000, with Australia’s capital cities having an ultra-tight rental vacancy rate of 1.3 per cent.
Ms O’Neil backed the plan to slash international student numbers.
‘I am very supportive of what the government has done to limit international students,’ she said on Monday.
‘We had our borders shut for the better part of two years and for the first time since the Second World War, our population actually went backwards.
‘So, it was always going to occur that we had years of higher migration beyond that – I do think it’s really important that we bring our migration back to normal and sustainable levels.’
An ABC spokeswoman said Mr Knight was not allowed to ask a question because Q+A did not allow enquiries from political staffers.
Australia last year accepted 547,300 migrants, the highest number ever on a net basis for a calendar year.
The permanent intake, which includes skilled migrants and those on a humanitarian visa, was capped at 190,000 during the last financial year.
This meant international students made up the vast bulk of new arrivals minus departures, with this intake classified as long-term.
In 2023, 733,370 international students came to Australia, as foreign graduates moved back home if they hadn’t attained permanent residency.
Education is Australia’s biggest services export and was worth $47.8billion in 2023 – almost double the $26.59billion value of 2022 as Australia reopened its borders.
It was also the nation’s most lucrative export after iron ore, coal and natural gas.
Mr Knight noted his cancelled question on Q+A followed a Media Watch program about his advocacy in May, which accused him of being inflammatory because he made a link between immigration and crime.
‘And if the media promote Jordan Knight’s inflammatory claims without challenging them they could help provoke exactly the sort of conflict that Knight is warning about,’ Media Watch host Paul Barry said.
‘It is irresponsible, it’s xenophobic, and it divides Australia.’
Mr Knight said it was possible the Q+A producer had second thoughts after seeing that Media Watch segment.
‘I think that’s exactly what happened, but can’t confirm,’ he said.
‘They likely searched my name and saw that.’
He didn’t end up attending the recording of Q+A.
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