subject: The Middle Class Struggle in Australia [print this page] The Middle Class Struggle in Australia
While job opportunities are constantly increasing all across the country to the point of hiring foreigners to man hundreds of thousands of jobs today and in the years to come, a common Australian faces a common issue--expensive housing cost. Although any developed nation has similar issue, the Australian version is simply more expensive and more challenging to deal with.
Those who live in a major Australian city know that housing cost is one of their main concerns. A common city dweller knows that Australia has simply one of the most expensive housing costs in the world. Even rental costs are exploding left and right. Buying a house in a city in Australia normally costs about $400,000 today. If you are lucky to have a house, think about your luck again since even house renovation is mostly out of reach for a usual worker in a city. If you think it is ironic, you may be right. Australia is one of the largest countries in the world, with its people to land ratio the lowest in the world without considering Antarctica. Simply said, there is simply lots of land here than anywhere else in the world.
The real problem lies on the government deregulation of land development costs. Land developers in the continent ensuring small areas of land release them only after a considerable period of time. Coupled with high government taxes, this scheme drives the price of the land beyond the reach of many ordinary citizens. In fact, the average federal and state taxes usually go over $50,000. Such overly expensive taxes may result to higher government revenue, but it does not help the average citizen in terms of housing needs. To the contrary, many Australian families are driven to commit themselves to unfair and enslaving borrowings and loans from mortgages and banks. They are probably fortunate if they can ever pay them at all.
Middle class housing has been the last in the long list of government priorities, which can be translated roughly to total neglect. There is an apparent lack of action on the part of the Australian government in terms of providing affordable housing to the Australian people in general. In all its wisdom, the government has put much faith on the assumption that market forces will solve this housing issue naturally. Sadly, this is never possible, unless the citizens are happily spending their lives on the streets. It is a known fact that the government knowingly allows landlords to claim the cost of housing against income hoping it will increase rental availability. However, this scheme is never effective and what it managed to do is simply raise the cost of housing, further accentuating the line dividing financial status of the people.
While the government is quick to ease the burden of those living in the streets, the middle class usually complain that they often pick a second place in terms of housing benefits. Large areas are converted into government housing projects, but not for the working class. The Coalition party led by Tony Abbott has many things to offer including housing benefits to the middle class. The middle class is eagerly waiting for him to win, and give new hope to the backbone of Australian society, the middle class.
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