The Brain Drain.

What Costello needs to look at next is the appalling situation with Rent Assistance for the unemployed. If anything is driving up rent this is it. It's made it so the only people who can afford to rent are unemployed or welfare students on Austudy. Perhaps they could look at a loans system or, hey here's a novel idea, force them to get work so they can afford to rent or buy some of the, soon to be released land.

Don't get me wrong, I know Austudy is investing in our nations future by ensuring anyone who wants to learn can. I'm not advocating ending Austudy, but perhaps it should only be provided for young people who want to move into professions where we have a skills shortage. And they should guarantee that they will remain in Australia for a set period, once they complete their study, instead of swanning off to Europe and Asia to avoid paying back their HECS.

A lot of people have been repeating this nonsense that there is no Brain Drain because of the Australian Diaspora but, in fact a Brain Gain as our graduates travel overseas and learn in their adopted countries (presumably, according to the theory bringing back the knowledge they learn). The Brain Gain advocates also get all carried with the notion that we get qualified professionals from overseas to make up for the, um Brain Drain (which doesn't actually exist of course…).

That's right, qualified professionals like the five, 'migrant doctors' currently being questioned over possible links to terrorism. Doesn't seem quite fair, we trade our young graduate doctors, trained in healing people, and possibly get a whole stack of doctors trained in blowing people up like, 'Bilal Abdullah, the doctor who was who was arrested after a flaming Jeep was driven into the doors of the arrivals hall of Glasgow Airport'.

Or perhaps they mean Doctor (Death) Patel, who is believed to have sent 80 of his patients to an early death.

Don't get me wrong here, most doctors and other professionals from overseas are well trained and hard working, but why are we training our own only to watch them leave the country? I don't mention the six doctors above to suggest that if a migrant doctor isn't criminally negligent he will blow you up. I simply wanted to question the notion of the Brain Gain.

I have nothing against full fee paying students, who pay their own way through Uni and don't need government assistance, and who pay their HECS upfront (which is financially prudent anyway) travelling wherever they want when they graduate. My eldest son wants to spend time in America. But surely the taxpayer isn't supporting students to do that, it's enough that I'm prepared to support my own flesh and blood but I don't see why I should be helping some kid I never even met just so they can float around Earls Court for two years.