Australia scraps ‘golden visa’ programme for wealthy investors, 'will be replaced with…'
BBC, the visa scheme was severely criticised in the country for increasing corruption and allowing wealthy foreign nationals to park illegal funds in Australia. Moreover, the dominance of Chinese investors was visible on the list of successful applicants as the Australian government data revealed that 85% of the SIVs were granted to people from China.
"It has been obvious for years that this visa is not delivering what our country and economy need," Clare O'Neil, the Minister of Home Affairs said in a statement. Australian government inquiry also revealed that not only the ‘golden visa’ programme was misused, but it also allowed people with ‘less business acumen’ to reside in the country and hence not deliver the result expected from such wealthy investors.
Australia has joined several other European countries including the United Kingdom (UK) which banned similar programmes due to concerns about the inflow of illegal money. The UK axed its investment-driven residency programme in 2022 as the government feared that money launderers from Russia were misusing the same to live in the UK.
"For far too long corrupt officials and kleptocrats have used golden visas as a vehicle to park their illicit funds in Australia and arguably hide their proceeds of crime," Clancy Moore, the chief executive of Transparency International Australia told BBC. The move is a win for people like Clancy Moore, who led a movement against the ‘golden visa’ programmes for its alleged "loopholes" and "vulnerabilities".
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