Study Melbourne has taken complete advantage of the situation of America and Donald Trump in particular, by issuing a counter Trump message of sorts, launching its “There’s a place for you in Melbourne” campaign last month.
Looking to capitalize on opposition to the anti-immigration rhetoric from the US president, the campaign provides students’ stories of their experiences studying in Melbourne and Victoria, joining the likes of the US’ #You Are Welcome Here and the UK’s #We Are International.
Minister for small business, innovation and trade, Philip Dalidakis is reported to have said: “In Victoria, multiculturalism is not a dirty word; it’s not something that we should be embarrassed by.” Speaking to the PIE news, Mr. Philip stated that the campaign had been motivated by due to the language and rhetoric used by Trump at the time of his ascendancy to the president.
Dalidakis is reported to have confirmed that there were some commercial intentions behind the campaign as well, however, he also stated that while there was some commercial aura motivating the campaign, the main purpose behind the campaign was to reassure the students that they were welcome within Victoria, and alleviate any possible concerns their parents might have.
Later, he further supported his statement of saying that there was some commercial motivation behind the campaign by saying: “At the end of the day… we still compete in the market with Canada, the US, the UK, and other developed Western countries.”
Moving forward, Dalidakis said the government would be working on increasing the opportunities for Victorian institutions to partner with providers overseas.
International education is extremely vital for Victoria, proven by the fact that International education represents Victoria’s highest export services and currently is host to 175,000 students, which also, by the way, represents 30 percent of Australia’s total international student population.
