Soft power, hard lesson: what can Australia learn from unhappy Asian students?

Soft power, hard lesson: what can Australia learn from unhappy Asian students?

Published: April 7, 2026

Duration: 28:53

Australia's education system is one of our most successful export industries, worth an estimated 54 billion dollars. But as perceptions that our universities are "mediocre and overpriced" rise, is the opportunity to use education as a way to build stronger relationships with south east Asia passing Australia by? 

This episode Hamish Macdonald and Kylie Morris go to Ho Chi Minh City to speak with Damien Cave from the New York Times, who argues Australian universities are failing as a frontline of Australian foreign policy.

Guest: New York Times' Vietnam bureau chief, Damien Cave. Read his story f...