After decades of encouraging competition between landlords and tenants, the government has turned around at lightning speed and now wants landlords and tenants to cooperate and negotiate. This is not in the nature of free-market economics...
The housing system in Australia and many other parts of the world is caught in a market that makes long-term shelter unaffordable for many people. National economies are locked into excessive housing debt, which makes them extremely fragile. If the cost of property falls and becomes more affordable, the economy becomes weaker, threatening people's quality of life. Many are calling for greater provision of social and community accommodation, but the effectiveness of this system for…
For the last ten years, corporate property behemoths have ridden roughshod over communities, dismantling sixty-year-old social-housing neighbourhoods and pushing the cost of accommodation through the roof. Governments have pursued a policy of incorporating social housing into private developments, handing over billions of dollars and public land to property developers, while homelessness has increased and millions have been unable to afford adequate housing. This policy has failed to provide sufficient levels of affordable housing.
OUR Walmart and US anti-unionism Coming from Australia with its history of labour representation in Parliament, reflected in a liveable minimum wage and an adequate welfare system, it was a shock to comprehend the disempowered position of labour in the United States. The minimum wage sits at US$7.25 per hour and millions of workers are unable to live on this without government assistance. The far-reaching influence of mammoth corporations in this country and the weakness…
The day dawned sunny, as almost every day in California does. Like thousands from all over the globe, my husband, daughter and I had moved to Silicon Valley on our own tech gold rush. The radio droned away as I went through the morning routine, getting my daughter ready for school. The news report of a shooting in a nearby suburb was shocking. A man had gunned down nine of his work mates. The whereabouts…
The Rudd government introduced the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) in 2009 purportedly to increase the supply of affordable housing. However, the Australian economy as a whole is dependent on housing prices remaining inflated to maintain land values and to finance the system of consumer debt. Housing prices sit at seven times the average annual wage. Consumers remain in debt as a lifestyle and the government props up the housing market with grants and tax…
