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State and Federal Governments are facing growing backlash from HomeBuilder applicants who say they have missed out on a grant of up to $25,000 because of "glitches" or technical issues with the online application process.

Clint Calman, from Southport, Queensland, bought his $599,000 townhouse off the plan from developers on December 23 last year.

The added incentive of a $25,000 HomeBuilder grant was one of the main reasons he decided to build a new home, he says.

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"It was a mad rush at the time because if you hadn't executed your contract by the 31st of December the grant would drop down from $25,000 to $15,000 – so everyone wanted to get it done in time," Mr Calman told nine.com.au.

The sale went through and the 42-year-old first home buyer immediately began the process of applying online for the grant through the online portal.

"I created my profile and uploaded the sale contract," he said.

"Once all the available information was uploaded you would click 'save and submit'. My account status was active and showing that I had until April 2023 to supply the relevant supporting documentation.".

READ MORE: HomeBuilder scheme booms as more than 82,000 owners take up grants

Mr Calman said he logged in and out of the portal twice just to make sure his account was working.

Each time, he was sent a security code to his email to log in with. He still has those emails.

Satisfied his application was underway, Mr Calman didn't try to log back into the portal until last week.

But when he attempted to access his profile, he was met with a generic message saying applications for the HomeBuilder grant had closed on April 14.

Thinking this was the case of a simple mistake, Mr Calman contacted the Queensland Office of State Revenue.

While the HomeBuilder grant is a Federal Government scheme, the online application process is run by the revenue office of each State and Territory Government.

"That's when the nightmare started. The person on the phone told me they had no record of my application," Mr Calman said.

"My heart sank and I nearly burst into tears. I got off the phone and I was shaking and all I was thinking was, 'Oh my god. I have just lost $25,000'."

Mr Calman said he had since contacted the federal Treasury department, as well as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's office and several MPs, to no avail.

"It is so frustrating. We have been left with no recourse. I was going to use that money to buy furniture and the years' worth of body corporate fees I need to pay," Mr Calman said.

Mr Calman said he was not alone and had spoken with many more people in the same situation.

"I joined a HomeBuilder grant Facebook page. After scrolling through the recent posts I couldn't believe that this had happened to hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants," he said.

Jemma Baker, from Neerim in southern Victoria, said she has also been affected by the same problem.

The mother-of-three said she and her fiancé bought a block of land and were building their dream home, all made possible by the HomeBuilder grant.

Like Mr Coleman, Ms Baker thought she had done everything right until she too was unable to log into the portal after April 14.

After calling Victoria's State Revenue Office, who told her they were aware of several similar situations, Ms Baker said she was initially hopeful something could be done.

However, she was then sent an email saying there was no record of her application and she could not get the grant.

"My heart sank. We are relying on this grant for wood heating, air conditioning and a retaining wall we won't be able to afford without it. We won't be able to go ahead with our build if we don't have this grant, it's heartbreaking," Ms Baker said.

Nine.com.au has spoken to a dozen HomeBuilder applicants who say they have missed out on the grant because of technical issues with the online portal.

While some say they recall clicking a "save and submit" button, others say they were still waiting on key information about their build, such as a construction date, before moving on to the next stage of the online application. These people said they believed logging their details and starting their application was all they needed to do to meet the cut-off criteria.

All of the applicants said the process was confusing and open to misinterpretation.

"At no time did the government comms explain that your application could be 'submitted' in stages and what their definition of 'submit' was. Meaning, you didn't need to wait until you had all your documents. You only needed to answer the questions and click submit," one applicant said.

"The online portal did not have a progress bar showing all the steps and which step you were up to.

"Prior to clicking the submit button, applicants had to acknowledge a statement that said if you provide misleading information there would be legal consequences. So, naturally people were reluctant to put in a construction start date until they knew what this would be…. and few people knew the start date as a result of all the industry delays and bottlenecks caused by the 400 per cent surge in demand."

A Federal Treasury spokesperson said state and territory governments were responsible for the administration of the HomeBuilder scheme.

"State or Territory Revenue Offices can only consider HomeBuilder applications submitted by midnight, 14 April 2021," the spokesperson said.

"Where individuals have concerns regarding the application process, they should contact the relevant State or Territory Revenue Office."

Nine.com.au has contacted the Queensland Office of State Revenue for comment but is yet to receive a response.

Nine.com.au understands both treasury departments within both the State and Federal governments are aware of the technical issues with the HomeBuilder application process.

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au.

A weather bomb off New Zealand is expected to bring “very strong” southeasterly winds and heavy swells – potentially higher than four metres – to parts of the North Island later this weekend.”A low-pressure system develops northeast…

Pressure is mounting on Queensland's premier and chief health officer to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, despite their insistence they are waiting to receive their flu shot first.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is the only eligible Australian premier or chief minister yet to receive the vaccine and CHO Dr Jeanette Young is also yet to receive her vaccine despite being part of the phase 1B health response group.

"I will be getting my flu shot with Dr Young first next week," Ms Palaszczuk said this morning, reiterating comments she has made previously.

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"A lot of people are getting their flu shots first because we're coming into flu season.

"I'll be doing that and then I'll be getting my COVID vaccine."

The two vaccines must be spaced out.

9News has confirmed Dr Young is set to receive the Pfizer vaccine, not the AstraZeneca, as she is part of phase 1B.

Ms Palaszczuk said Dr Young was "happy to wait her turn just like everybody else".

"She's not on the vulnerable category like other people are so she'll get her vaccine at the appropriate time," she said.

The news comes after the TGA confirmed six more blood clot cases – four with links to the AstraZeneca vaccine and the other two with probable links to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Despite the development, the health advice remains that people should visit their GP and receive their vaccination as soon as they are eligible.

'Roll your sleeve up'

Federal MP Peter Dutton today criticised the pair for not having had their vaccinations, saying they had let Queenslanders down.

"I really don't understand the premier's position. I think in a position of leadership it is important, particularly now, to demonstrate that leadership and to make sure that you lead by example," he said.

"They need to, I think, go out today, roll their sleeve up and make a very public statement about the fact that they have got the vaccine and encourage other people to do it."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison today urged older Australians to get vaccinated.

"By early next week we will have vaccinated more than half the over-70s population in Australia and very soon we will have fully completed the vaccination of all those in residential aged care facilities," he said.

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"This is important because these are our most vulnerable populations.

"I would encourage families to have that discussion with their elderly parents."

He declined to comment on Dr Young receiving the Pfizer vaccine, saying only that being in phase 1B meant she could pick either.

Anyone over 50 as well as people in phase 1A and phase 1B are now eligible to be vaccinated. Check if you are eligible here.

Test your brains with the Herald’s afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

A US Navy warship has sailed near disputed Beijing-controlled islands in the South China Sea – just hours after US President Joe Biden said the US must protect open access to the waterway.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur performed what the US Navy calls a "freedom of navigation" operation near the Paracel Islands, asserting "navigational rights and freedoms… consistent with international law," Lieutenant Nicholas Lingo, spokesperson for the US Seventh Fleet, said in a statement.

China calls the Paracels, in the north-western portion of the South China Sea, the Xisha Islands.

READ MORE: China has deep-sea purpose for claim over disputed sea

They have been under Beijing's control for more than four decades – despite competing claims from Vietnam and Taiwan – and China has fortified them with military installations.

Beijing, which claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territory, said the movement of the US warship violated its sovereignty.

"US behaviour violates international law and basic norms of international relations, increases regional security risks, and are prone to misunderstandings, misjudgments, and accidents at sea," Tian Junli, spokesperson of the People's Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command, said in the statement.

But Mr Biden, in a speech at the US Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, accused China – and also Russia – of "disruptive actions" challenging decades-old international rules protecting maritime commerce in the South China Sea and other waterways.

https://twitter.com/USPacificFleet/status/1395250111651844099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"Longstanding, basic maritime principles like freedom of navigation are a bedrock of a global economic and global security," Mr Biden told the graduating class at the academy in New London, Connecticut.

"When nations try to game the system or tip the rules in their favour, it throws everything off balance.

"It's of vital interest to America's foreign policy to secure unimpeded flow of global commerce.

"And it won't happen without us taking an active role to set the norms of conduct, to shape them around democratic values, not those of autocrats."

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Lieutenant Lingo, the US Navy spokesperson, emphasised that point in his statement yesterday.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations," he said.

Yesterday's operation was the third conducted against Chinese claims in the South China Sea this year, a Department of Defence spokesperson told CNN.