Australia: 'Golden visa' scheme for wealthy investors axed
Australia: 'Golden visa' scheme for wealthy investors axed
Critics say the scheme - which granted visas to wealthy investors - was attracting "illicit" funds.
Honestly, my partner and I are actively looking into golden visa programs. We are like a United Colors of Benetton ad of sexual, ethnic, and racial minorities, and the worse things are getting in the US, the more attractive emigration becomes.
That said, I would not even entertain the idea of moving to Australia. Maybe it’s just an outsider’s perception, but they don’t look like they’re heading in a particularly good direction either.
I agree that Australia is not headed in the right direction. The past 5 years, atleast, will show that.
I find the idea of golden visas absolutely deploreable. Worldwide there are already those of the upper echelon migrating their businesses, and personal lives, to certain locations for safe haven when it's common knowledge that these folks continue to do more harm to the populace while reaping the personal benefits. Could the proper use of these visas be advantageous, yes. Would they be manipulated from day 1, yes.
Yeah, I recognize that it’s a deplorable thing and I am very much in favor of allowing for far more open immigration.
I also know that there’s an old Jewish joke about Germany and Russia about the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. The pessimists lived.
If that means spending $600k on a house in Portugal in order to get a resident visa, I’m going to do that if I need to in order to protect myself and my loved ones. I worry that people don’t realize how quickly things can get bad, or how bad they can get, and the answer isn’t “buy a gun.” I’ve been shot at and I didn’t like it. I’d rather move to someplace on the Mediterranean and drink cocktails. I will never stop working for civil rights, including the rights of migration, but if this is the only way to GTFO, I’m going to do it if I need to.
I get the bit about people parking money overseas using these programs, but humanitarian immigration is being eroded year after year. We need to fix that, but until we can, I need to make sure I’m considering all of my options.
To quote a friend of mine who traveled to Australia recently, "I wouldn't say Australia is the most racist country, but they are definitely the country that is the most comfortable with their racism."
Yeah Australia kinda feels like it’s a similar shit show done weirder. Like we’re evil and incompetent but Australia is that and also lost a prime minister. At least when a president suddenly stops being president they tend to have failed to join the shockingly large ranks of presidents to survive being shot in office.
And for non Americans that’s not a joke, seriously off the top of my head three died of gunshot in office (Lincoln, McKinley, and Kennedy) and at least 3 have survived an in office gunshot (Jackson, Roosevelt 1, Reagan) and I’m sure I missed some. And no we won’t be restricting guns for some reason.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In a policy document from December, it announced that it would scrap it, focusing instead on creating more visas for "skilled migrants" capable "of making outsized contributions to Australia".
Bill Browder, who is widely credited as being responsible for the creation of the Magnitsky Act - a US law designed to target individuals for abuses committed overseas, has also criticised the scheme.
In 2016, a government inquiry raised concerns that it had the "potential for money laundering and other nefarious activities", while in 2022 The Australian newspaper reported that members of Cambodia's Hun Sen regime were among the bad actors who had exploited the system.
The government inquiry also found that the visas were bringing people into Australia with "less business acumen" than would have otherwise arrived, while offering tax concessions that were costing the public.
Australia now joins the UK, which scrapped a scheme offering fast-track residency to the mega rich in 2022, due to concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money.
In 2022, an investigation discovered the visas being granted after people spent just days in the island nation, while the EU had raised concern over risks of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.
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