Forget about intergenerational theft, this is intergenerational bullying
|
Version 0 of 1. Behind the (most likely taxpayer-funded) “have a go” catchphrase of the 2015 budget is a core contradiction. This government is doing everything in its power to stop one section of our community from “having a go”: young people. In the face of the highest youth unemployment rate since 1998, Joe Hockey’s solution to Australia’s housing affordability crisis is that people should just “get a job that pays good money”. It’s economic advice a high school economics student would be embarrassed to give. Which makes it all the more surprising that the treasurer of Australia could say it straight-faced. Related: Joe Hockey refuses to apologise for 'get a good job' advice for first homebuyers Trying to defend his sequel to “poor people don’t drive”, Hockey suggested on Wednesday that young people and others defending those who are struggling to afford the cost of buying their first home should not “play the man” and instead actually deal with the policy. Leaving aside the fact that Hockey wasn’t exactly dealing with policy when he accused people of not having good enough jobs, it’s clear this government has a certain disdain towards housing affordability reform. Changes to negative gearing, a tax break which is one of the causes of the problem, has already been ruled out by this government – rendering the findings of their own “comprehensive” tax review useless. Younger people are the primary losers in the house price boom in Sydney and Melbourne. In the last 20 years, the rate of home purchase among 25 to 44 year olds has declined by 15%. The prime minister doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, despite what his top economic adviser says, he would like house prices to go up even higher. And this isn’t the only area where the government appears to be deliberately making life hard for young people. Want to go to university so you can get one of these “good jobs”? Christopher Pyne wants to make that much more expensive for you. Want the safety net of Newstart in case you can’t find a job right after uni (which is likely, given the unemployment rate)? Well, they’re going to take that support away from you for a month. This government accused Labor of “intergenerational theft” by leaving high deficits. But that amounts to hollow rhetoric if you have a policy platform that looks very much like intergenerational bullying. And it’s not just young people who have come to this view. “There is a stunning generational unfairness in our [budget] settings and all those disengaged younger Australians need to wake up to the fact they’re being massively screwed,” says head of Deloitte Economics, Chris Richardson. For all of the government’s “national conversations” about the future, they remain opposed to any measures that might actually help create a better future for young Australians. Take superannuation tax concessions. These tax breaks cost the budget billions – soon more than the age pension – and overwhelmingly go to the wealthiest Australians, while providing little to no support to low income Australians trying to save for their retirement, according to an Australia Institute report commissioned by GetUp. The glaring unfairness and unsustainability of these concessions have been pointed out by many: former governor of the Reserve Bank Bernie Fraser, former Commonwealth Bank CEO David Murray, the super industry itself and even right wing shock jock Alan Jones. Seems like a no brainer for reform: it has broad support, saves the budget billions, helps low income Australians save more for their retirement – which takes pressure off the age pension – creating a more sustainable retirement system and less of a tax burden for our youth in the future. You would have to think that, at the very least, the government would have to consider such a reform … right? Wrong. Instead, Tony Abbott promised to “never ever” change superannuation, despite what his own review may end up telling him. Good news for retirees with millions in their super who’ll forever be able to access it in lump sums tax-free. Bad news for young people. Instead of gaining revenue from super reform, the government prefers to balance the budget by cutting services that would benefit millennials, like Newstart and universities. And it’s not even like young people can look forward to these generous tax breaks in the future, because as Hockey acknowledged recently, superannuation changes are “inevitable”. And even if, on the off chance, these tax breaks still exist, young people won’t be able to access them till they’re 70, because the government’s putting up the retirement age. When you look at the policies pursued by this government, it’s now clear that when Joe Hockey declared in 2014 that he would end the age of entitlement, he only wanted it to end for those under a certain age. |