- hannah richie
- BBC News, Sydney
The scheme was originally marketed as a way to encourage overseas investment.
Australia has abolished the so-called “golden visa” that gave wealthy overseas investors the right to reside in the country.
The purpose was to attract foreign companies, but the government judged that the economic results were low, so it was reduced in a review of the immigration system.
Critics have long argued that the system is being used by “corrupt officials” to “store illicit funds.”
This will be replaced by more skilled worker visas.
Thousands of Significant Investor Visas (SIVs) have been issued through the program since 2012, with 85% of successful applicants coming from China, according to government data.
Touted as a way to encourage foreign investment and encourage innovation, candidates had to invest more than A$5 million (£2.6 million, $3.3 million) in Australia to qualify. .
After multiple reviews, the government found that the plan had failed to achieve its core objectives. In a policy document in December, the country announced it would abolish this and instead focus on creating more visas for “skilled migrants” who are capable of “making a significant contribution to Australia”. .
“It has been clear for years that this visa is not delivering what our country and our economy need,” Home Secretary Claire O'Neill said in a statement on Monday.
Transparency International Australia CEO Clancy Moore welcomed the move, telling the BBC: “For too long, corrupt officials and thieves have used the Golden Visa as a means to keep illicit funds in Australia and perhaps hide their proceeds” of crime. ”
The program was already under intense scrutiny for its alleged “loopholes” and “vulnerabilities.” Bill Browder, widely known as the man responsible for creating the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law targeting individuals who are victims of abuse committed abroad, has also criticized the system.
A government inquiry in 2016 expressed concerns that the system had “potential for money laundering and other fraudulent activity”, and in 2022 The Australian newspaper found that some of the bad actors who exploited the system It was reported that members of Cambodia's Hun Sen government were also included.
Government research has found that while the visa offers tax benefits that would otherwise be burdensome to citizens, it also allows people to enter Australia with “less business acumen” than they would normally have without the visa. did.
Some asset managers have pushed back on these valuations, arguing that the additional investment from the SIV ended up significantly exceeding the A$5 million buyout.
Australia will join the UK in abolishing a system giving priority residency to the ultra-wealthy in 2022 due to concerns about illicit funds flowing into Russia.
Malta's so-called golden visa system, which has granted citizenship quickly to wealthy non-European Union nationals, has also come under intense scrutiny. In 2022, an investigation found people were being issued visas after only a few days in the island nation, as the EU raised concerns about the risks of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.
