Following the uncovering by The Australian newspaper yesterday of rorts in the $4.5 billion National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which has seen taxpayer money used to subsidise rental accommodation for international students, Social Services Minister, Kevin Andrews, has sought a major review of the Scheme by his department. More from The Australian:
“(The) NRAS was rushed in design and implementation under Labor and includes numerous design flaws, ambiguous legal requirements and red tape,” Mr Andrews told The Australian. “I have asked my department to implement more stringent processes to test compliance under the scheme and stamp out the possibility of non-compliance.
“The legislation designed by the previous Labor government does not exclude international students from occupying NRAS dwellings. Within the framework of the legislation, my department has sought to better target the scheme where possible by imposing conditions on offers such as those in relation to tenancy preferences.”
Obviously, this is a good move my the Coalition. First and foremost, taxpayer subsidies should be reserved for locals, not foreigners.
With a bit of luck, the Government will also change the incentive structure of NRAS to encourage the construction of larger apartments and houses. Under current arrangements, incentives are the same regardless of the number of rooms built, resulting in the over-construction of shoebox-sized apartments that are inappropriate for impoverished families.
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