Many Australians are rightly concerned about the health risks posed by the arrival of the coronavirus on our shores. Elderly people and cancer patients with compromised immune systems are self-isolating to avoid infection. Doctors are worried about the availability of facemasks. Some people may be getting a bit obsessive about stockpiling toilet paper, though that’s perhaps understandable given the threat of mass quarantines.

But university vice-chancellors are in a class all their own.

What keeps them awake at night is the loss of Chinese student tuition revenue.