When introduced, it was touted as the economic gift that kept giving the Morrison government's Homebuilder scheme was designed to keep the construction industry afloat through COVID. But now, some applicants are angry after missing out on funding they thought they were eligible for.
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00:00 The Halls call it their $25,000 sink.
00:05 This is the little bit that the builder wouldn't do, can you see that?
00:08 And that's our ginormous sink.
00:10 The family lives in Leburn on the Southern Downs and applied for the Home Builder Grant.
00:15 Their builder couldn't install the sink they wanted, so they called in somebody else.
00:19 And because of that, their application was knocked back.
00:23 We've actually had to now borrow the money and refine it,
00:26 which means we're now paying interest on that $25,000 we thought we would be entitled to for the next 30 years.
00:35 It was a federal scheme, but run by the states.
00:38 To get the grant, you needed a comprehensive contract,
00:42 but it wasn't spelled out that you couldn't use more than one contractor.
00:47 Don Alexander's builder couldn't guarantee his foundations would be poured in time to get the grant,
00:52 so he got another company to do it. Halfway through the build, he learnt it made him ineligible.
00:59 I had to source money elsewhere to finish off the home more or less, yeah.
01:04 Several rejected applicants have appealed to the state's administrative tribunal.
01:08 Those cases have focused on what a comprehensive contract actually means.
01:13 Ignorance of the law is no excuse for most cases that come before the courts,
01:18 but in this case, it was a question of what are you ignorant about?
01:23 Mr Alexander appealed the decision to QCAT and lost.
01:27 His lawyer says he respectfully disagrees.
01:30 As to the vibe of Don's case, there was a significant opportunity to interpret that,
01:36 to look at the intent of the legislation.
01:38 The Queensland Revenue Office, which administers the funds,
01:41 says it can't accept applications that don't meet the Commonwealth's criteria.
01:46 There's no monetary value, no one gained anything out of it.
01:50 It's just a sink at the end of the day.
01:53 the day.
01:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]