Housing affordability

[autocoupler]

https://www.dicksmithfairgo.com.au/pdf/DICK-SMITH-FAIR-GO-HOUSING-AFFORDABILITY.pdf

Love Dick Smith's thinking. Sadly, too many vested interests as well as failed thinkers in positions of influence, for much to come of it though. We can only hope!!

[seedyrom]

I'm only part way through it, but the sad thing is, it's nothing new.
This thread is littered with the same points being raised, but baby boomer generations saying "suck it up princess, we had it tough too".

Hopefully some here will change their tune if their beloved Dick gives them the message.

[Fulvio]

Just read this whole thread, and I gotta say, there's a whole lot of failed assumptions here.

"Boo Hoo, I can't afford to live where I want!" - So what? We have an entire continent with the population of ONE CITY occupying it. Go someplace else.

"But I've always lived in Sydney (Melbourne or wherever). I don't want to move!" - Why? Because you can make more money there, which you can't use to put a roof over your head anyway?

Think about this:

Compare the pair... A and B both make $100,000. Both pay the same taxes. A pays five times the rent B does, buys Lattes at trendy cafes, drives a $60,000 car, and at the end of the year, has saved $10,000. B lives frugally in some undesirable 'hole', drinks instant coffee and drives a $1,000 Holden, but saves $20,000 a year. Which is better off?

"But there are no jobs in Upper Tumbukta West!" - Bullshit. We live in a digital world. Jobs are portable, and can be performed absolutely anywhere. If YOUR job isn't like that, you're in the wrong job, and chances are the dinosaur you work for will cark it sooner rather than later and you'll be unemployed anyway.

Besides, jobs follow people. If everybody moves to the middle of a desert, how long do you think it will be before the construction industry finds them? And services? Finance, Retail, etc? There is nothing magic about a bunch of cliffs around a patch of water. Humans can, and do, live in all sorts of environments, from the arctic to the tropics, with equal success.

And anyway, how stupid do you have to be to pave over the best agricultural land to build concrete wastelands on it, instead of starting with a wasteland and improving it? A 40-storey apartment block, office building, factory and shopping centre would be equally functional ANYWHERE. They don't have to be built on the veggie patch, which is then replaced with shiploads of imports.

Oh, and if you're going to bring Tricky Dicky into it, why not look at his thoughts on population? Anyone with kids deserves to be tried for crimes against humanity, apparently. Which is probably not far from the truth at all.

[autocoupler]

The reference to kids and crimes against humanity when speaking of Dick's sensible call for a 70,000 migration intake, absolutely misrepresents his campaign. Any inference of that nature is typical of something you would hear from the bias media and other vested interests on this matter!

[Unicorn]

I don't have a lot to add here apart from the fact that interest rates are no longer 17%+ as they were when I got my first home loan.

[Fulvio]

The reference to kids and crimes against humanity when speaking of Dick's sensible call for a 70,000 migration intake, absolutely misrepresents his campaign. Any inference of that nature is typical of something you would hear from the bias media and other vested interests on this matter!

Migration is not the issue, and never has been. The entire world was built on migration, ever since the very first people walked out of Africa.

The real issue is population numbers itself. We breed like a virus, and like any virus will overwhelm the resources we need to sustain ourselves.

Why exactly do we have 7 Billion people? What possible logical explanation can there be for the incessant raping and pillaging of the only planet we have to call home?

Me, I would throw the doors wide open, and invite absolutely anyone to come and live in Australia. With two provisos... mandatory sterilisation, and they would not be able to settle in the capital cities. By all means build new cities, and improve the country, themselves, the rest of the population and the world at large. But when you drop off the perch, you're not going to leave a tribe of several hundred descendants behind.

Interestingly, statistics seem to indicate that at least some of our community is already adopting this philosophy. Perhaps not with surgery, but certainly conscious decisions not to add to the problem.

[JeffH]

They were only in the range of 12% to 13% when our first home loan was approved. Shortly after, when we drew the money, it was just over 17%. Made a big difference to our budget I can tell you.

[autocoupler]

The reference to kids and crimes against humanity when speaking of Dick's sensible call for a 70,000 migration intake, absolutely misrepresents his campaign. Any inference of that nature is typical of something you would hear from the bias media and other vested interests on this matter!

Migration is not the issue, and never has been. The entire world was built on migration, ever since the very first people walked out of Africa.

The real issue is population numbers itself. We breed like a virus, and like any virus will overwhelm the resources we need to sustain ourselves.

 :i_agree:

[autocoupler]

Couldn't resist digging this thread up again.

I see the Government is incurring RSI of the shoulder as they slap themselves on the back over the drastically improved jobless figures.

IMHO, we've had next to zero immigration for two years. The outcome is a fair indication of what effect the excessive people ponzy scheme of the past twenty five years has had. 

Of course the clowns from both major political points of view are talking up a return to the same ol same ol.

Our leaders and prospective leaders are lazy, and continue to deliver platitudes as they attempt to justify the outcomes of their position which is not in the interest of Australians, particularly younger Australians finding affordable housing.

[JeffH]

As someone said to me the other day, " are those foreign students here to study or work?"

Backpackers doing casual work is fine as plenty of young Australians returning the favour elsewhere.

I suspect a lot of the special visas for people with skills not available here or because not enough locals available to do certain jobs is much a rort to just get cheaper workers. And/or an indictment on our skills training -kill of TAFE and what do you expect.

[autocoupler]

Dick Smith advocates the rate of immigration should be 70,000 per year, which is the long term average. The most recent proposal is somewhere around 250,000. 

Little wonder we just about doubled our population in thirty something years, and smaller wonder all Governments are broke and borrowed to the hilt as they trying to keep ahead of the ongoing infrastructure requirements. 

What would I know but, I think it's obvious many Governments over the decades were happy to see a manufacturing industry which did need some life support, slowly die, and condemn the problem to the too hard basket. 

Once that matter was sorted, our visionary's decided there was no further need to train fitters, tool makers, machinists, boilermakers, welders, tinsmiths, die setters etc etc. 

Oh, hang about they thought, we could replace the skills of one lost industry by super heating the skill requirements of another, the building industry. 

Yippee they thought, if we ramp up immigration our problems are solved, everyone does require somewhere to live after all, and they can drive to their new jobs in nice shiny imported motor cars.

All ponzi schemes come to nothing eventually, and no doubt lobbyists still beat a worn path to the door of any incumbent minister for immigration.