The sad death of the Australian Dream

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By Leith van Onselen

The Salvation Army has released new disturbing polling showing that more than half of Australia’s adult population believes the great Australian dream of owning a home is over:

The research, commissioned through Roy Morgan, revealed that 9.9 million Aussies shared this belief amid an overwhelmingly pessimistic view of the economy and housing affordability.

Additionally, one in three mortgage holders surveyed say they are likely to struggle to meet their mortgage repayments if interest rates rise this year.

Salvation Army officer, Major Paul Moulds, says the housing affordability crisis is having a catastrophic effect on those presenting to the Salvos for help.

Major Moulds says this is illustrated in The Salvation Army’s research, which also revealed:

  • 60 per cent of Australians believe they will either live “a basic lifestyle” or will “struggle to get by financially” in retirement. (11.2 million Australians).
  • One in four Australians (equivalent to 26 per cent of respondents) are worried they “won’t have enough reasonably paid work” or a “job at all” this year. (4.8 million Australians).
  • Nearly half (46 per cent of respondents) are more worried about their financial situation compared to last year. (8.6 million Australians).
  • 41 per cent say their financial situation is affecting their “emotional wellbeing”, “family life”, “career goals” or “social life”. (7.7 million Australians).

The problem is not just one of declining housing affordability, but also declining housing quality. For example, Urban Taskforce Australia recently projected that detached houses with backyards will vanish in Sydney over the next 40 years, meaning future children will be forced to grow up in apartments, many in insecure rented accommodation:

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Sadly, both reports failed to even mention the key driver behind the rising cost of housing and the shift to battery-hen living: the federal government’s 210,000 strong mass immigration program, which is behind the extra 850,000 people (+20%) that has flooded Sydney and the 1.1 million people (+30%) that has flooded Melbourne over the past 12 years, in addition to the insane population growth projected for both cities, as well as Perth and Brisbane:

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Since when have Australian residents been given a choice about how crowded and over-populated their cities become, nor whether they approve of them morphing into high-rise Asian-styled cities?

The Australian way of life is quickly disappearing before our eyes, making way for a sardine can future. And for what? Just so rentiers like Highrise Harry and Gerry Harvey can feather their nests.

Australia desperately needs a plebiscite on Australia’s future population size so that voters can determine how ‘big’ Australia becomes, not have it force-fed by the ‘growth lobby’ and their political mouthpieces.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.