Group of Eight Chief Executive Vicky Thomson says “there is not a sector in this country that is not heavily engaged in trade relations with China” and the travel ban inflicts a “very acute" impact on the university sector. Leading Australian universities are facing losing more than one billion dollars in fees as more than 65,000 students remain stranded in China as a result of the travel ban issued due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ms Thomson told Sky News "“if we actually slow down or stop capital works programs, that has a knock-on impact on tradespeople who work on particular programs at our university”.
"It is apparent it is not just the universities that are in the frame here but the broader national economy," she said.
"There is a short-term program to work with those students and we are looking at what we can do to provide online courses etc at this present time.
“We are talking to the Chinese embassy about what we can do when the ban is lifted so that we can get them here as soon as possible."
Image: Getty
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