Australia should keep ‘golden visa’ scheme for economic benefits even as finetuning is needed

The “pause” on “golden visa” applications by the Australian government this week amid a migration strategy overhaul would have left many eager Chinese migrants disappointed, especially those who have been stuck in a years-long approval backlog.

Wealthy Chinese applicants make up about 85 per cent of applicants.

But the way the pause was announced, or not announced for that matter, was odd. There was no statement from the government except a briefing to journalists, which did not read like the programme was formally axed.

Fund managers, migration agents and lawyers tell me this is the government’s way of testing if they should kill off the programme completely. It is sitting on the fence and no wonder — it wants “working” migrants as well as foreign capital.

When the government introduced it in 2012, it was just too much of a coincidence that it came at a time when many were leaving the Chinese mainland in droves and looking for overseas investments.

But still it was a win-win. Chinese migrants love Australia – and still do despite the hard years of conflict between Beijing and Canberra from 2020 to 2022, primarily over trade and politics. But over the years, concerns about the programme brewed.

The early years of the visa were contentious when investors stuck their money into the hottest asset in town, property, until house prices blew up. There were glances of suspicion cast at wealthy foreigners buying up mansions in blue ribbon suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.

A major nip and tuck came along in 2015 when a new rule stipulated that investments were limited to approved sectors such as venture capital, start-ups and managed equity funds.

Still, the Australian Productivity Commission then advised the government to abolish golden