Reminds me of the old USSR saying: We pretend to work & the government pretends to pay us. Here in California the wanna be Gordon Gekko Governor of ours is entirely dependent on IPO money flow from Silicon Valley to fund the state. Real inflation here is crazy high and then add in the yearly 10-15% real estate inflation and soon even the single digit millionaires will be in trouble. Oh I'm sure the insurance costs are skyrocketing in LA thanks to Trump's crazy ideas about immigration and who actually does the work the lazy Californians won't do.
My wife's family are 2nd generation immigrants from Taiwan who settled in Melbourne's far suburbs, a very unusual choice considering these where entirely white working class. Her father wanted his kids to integrate and didn't want to move to the city's Chinese neighborhood. They went to 7th day religious school and experienced plenty of racism (wife loves to brag about punching a boy in the nose for having spat at her). She was the only kid from the school to go to university (!), studying comp science because the architecture department didn't let her in. Upon graduation, she backpacked around the world for a year with money saved working through school. She returned to get an MBA and was hired by various consulting firms. She quickly realized it would be very difficult for her to rise through the ranks of a entirely white male dominated work culture and opted to try her luck in Hong Kong. There, she met a group of ABC's (Australian Born Chinese), all well educated in Australia, bankers/lawyers who struggled to find their place in Australia and moved to HK to make fortune. And fortune they made, buying Sydney harbor properties and luxurious up coast beach houses. When HK returned to China they all returned to Australia, with senior role experience or enough money to manage their fortunes. What's my point in real estate discussion? Blaming immigrants is such a pathetic, uneducated and primitive form of racism, the same "white people priority" that my wife and her friends all experienced as 2nd generation Australians, educated in the same private schools and universities that all top 10% Australians went to. And what looks more Chinese than another Chinese...All the same, taking jobs and preventing white Australia from owning their homes... Remember, my wife was the only one to go to university in her entire school? All these working class kids followed in their parents footsteps, choosing trades over school, settling in working class suburbs and expecting their kids to do the same. Nothing wrong whith that, for sure. Land of plentiful, strong unions, high pay/benefits, who needs college? Ring an American bell? But there's also nothing wrong with choosing school as the nearly only opportunity to climb the economic ladder and coming out on top 40 years later. Our ABC friends all lament the influx of Chinese development money aimed at China based investors. But, as discussed here before, they build towers that no white Australians would ever live in. These are meant for people who are comfortable living in towers and prefer views to lawns. They don't even compete with traditional Australia real estate. To this day, when we visit family in her parents suburbs, the majority are still white, although now they're a diverse group of Europeans, not just Brits. I would warn against public housing that invite more problems than they solve. I walked by a couple of these in Melbourne a few months ago and they're barely better than those we have in the US. Also, there's a lot of drugs in Melbourne and got to see a fair number of street teens with no plans and no immediate future. I also got to see how crazy urban and suburban house prices are. I simply couldn't make sense of buying to rent. A friend in Perth owns a dozen properties there and was saying she barely gets 2% return on investment after all expenses. No thank you. Ironically, there's plenty of work in Australia, at least in Melbourne. Signs are up everywhere. My kid just got in at U of Melbourne and already has a p/t job at an upcoming high end hotel paying AUD40/hr before taxes, an amount unherd of in most of Europe. I'd say Australia is a country of many contradictions. Immense underground wealth but no sovereign fund for all Australians to benefit from; Very eclectic and super dynamic multicultural cities but deep entrenched racism from white Anglo Irish who came barely 3-4 generations prior; a social safety net similar to Scandinavian countries but a countryside reminiscing of poor nations. It's definitely very confusing for an outsider like me using US references. I call Canada the US of the North and Australia the US of the South. Same roots but different evolutions.
How the housing crisis is fuelling a mental health catastrophe Dr Ehsan Noroozinejad Senior researcher June 16, 2025 Every day more Australians are forced to spend a huge share of income on rent or mortgages, putting them under intense stress. In 2024, all major cities hit record rental unaffordability: the National Shelter/SGS Rental Affordability Index reports that rents have surged so much that householders on JobSeeker or basic pensions now find every market “critically unaffordable”. As housing stress deepens, Australia is also seeing a surge in mental ill-health.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos In Sydney the median rent is $700+ a week (30 per cent of median income) and in Perth $600+ (31 per cent). Homeownership is ever more distant, vacancy rates have collapsed, and poorer renters in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane are facing similar gaps between incomes and costs. This housing stress is now routine. A recent survey found four in five renters spend over 30 per cent of their income on housing. Over three-quarters of renters and mortgage-holders say the crisis has made them fear for their financial security. The toll shows up starkly on our streets and doorsteps. Australia’s last census (2021) counted about 122,494 people as homeless on one night: including 7600 rough sleepers, and 23 per cent of those were aged 12 to 24. Meanwhile, everyday Australians tell similar stories of constant anxiety: pressure to find or keep a home, desperate rental searches, or living out of garages and boarding houses, eroding their sense of dignity. Tenants describe how endless rent hikes and knock-backs made them feel “less human”, always worried about losing any roof over their head. As housing stress deepens, Australia is also seeing a surge in mental ill-health. Decades of data show young people’s psychological distress and diagnosed disorders have soared. For example, analysis of national surveys found the share of 15 to 25-year-olds with high psychological distress more than doubled from 2007 to 2021. The proportion of young Australians reporting a mental disorder in the past year jumped from 26 per cent in 2007 to about 40 per cent by 2022. In 2021–22, three-quarters of 15 to 24-year-olds had at least one chronic condition, with anxiety disorders affecting 26 per cent and depression 17 per cent. Suicide and self-harm remain alarmingly high: they are the leading cause of death for young men (among injury deaths) and anxiety disorders the top issue for young women. In short, mental illness is now the single largest health burden facing teens and young adults in Australia. The pressure on mental health services is immense. GPs provide 85 per cent of mental-health prescriptions, and in 2021–22 people aged 12 to 24 already made up 23 per cent of all Medicare-funded mental health service users. Sharon Callister, CEO of welfare group Mission Australia, notes that one in five young people report severe distress and more than a fifth rank mental health as their biggest personal challenge. She warns “so many young people are struggling with stress, anxiety, loneliness and depression”, highlighting an “urgent need for increased mental health support”. Clinics and hotlines are overwhelmed, and long waits for care are the norm, a reality far harsher for those also battling housing insecurity. Young Australians are hit especially hard at this intersection. According to Mission Australia’s 2024 Youth Survey, a record 56 per cent of 15 to 19-year-olds named cost-of-living (including housing) as their top concern, up from 25 per cent two years ago. Housing affordability has become a daily worry: many say they fear never owning a home, or even staying housed. Housing experts say these stresses aggravate mental illness. Melbourne University’s Professor Rebecca Bentley found in 2011 that low- to middle-income people spending over 30 per cent of their income on rent or mortgage had significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression. Recent studies of young Australians echo this: those who had to move frequently or live with family for affordability reasons were much more likely to report poor mental health. The effect is not just material but psychological. Dr Priya Kunjan of RMIT’s Urban Research Centre says “the ability to dwell securely really is the bedrock of the rest of our lives”, when people lack control of their housing, their sense of stability and self-worth erodes. Repeated rental rejections can instil a “learned helplessness,” according to clinical psychologist Gene Hodgins: when every application is turned down, people may wonder “why keep on trying…?” and slip into depression and anxiety. Evidence from thousands of affected Australians confirms this. A survey by housing campaign Everybody’s Home found 66 per cent of renters said the accommodation crisis was harming their mental health, and an even higher proportion reported constant stress and fear about housing. Meanwhile, in crisis accommodations, mental health issues are the norm: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data show roughly one-third of clients using specialist homelessness services report a current mental illness, and this number keeps climbing (over 85,000 people, or about 31 per cent) in 2022–23. In short, the housing crunch is not only leaving more people without homes, it is worsening a national mental health emergency. The convergence of housing pain and mental health decline is a clarion call to the new Australian government. The evidence is clear that half-measures won’t suffice. Experts agree the solution must be comprehensive and sustained and warn that without a decisive policy response, the country faces a long-term social crisis: thousands more people losing homes, more suicides and illnesses, and a future generation scarred by trauma. Australia’s new federal government has a mandate and a moral duty to act now. The data leaves no doubt: investing in housing stability is investing in the nation’s mental health, and in Australia’s future.
What happens to house prices when the drug money tap is turned off? By Colin Kruger July 5, 2025 https://www.smh.com.au/business/the...-money-tap-is-turned-off-20250627-p5mav1.html If house prices are pushing aspiring home owners to something harder than liquor for comfort, they will only be making their predicament worse. There is no denying the link between Australia’s world-leading cocaine use and our equally robust housing affordability issues. Credit: AP The latest update from the Australian Federal Police-led Criminal Assets Confiscation taskforce shows criminals have added artworks, shoes and crypto to their spending wish lists, but they don’t come near real estate. Since mid-2019, of the $1.23 billion in assets “restrained” by authorities, about $800 million related to property. These assets ranged from waterfront mansions in Queensland bought by a Russian couple to launder criminal proceeds from home, to a Chinese crime syndicate buying up mansions and apartments in Sydney, and Melbourne gangland bosses funnelling money into property there. Luxury properties bought by a Russian couple were seized by police as they arrested the pair on money laundering charges.Credit: Domain Just last week, it was a unit complex in Sydney’s outer suburban Merrylands linked to the notorious Alameddine organised crime group. This is a small portion of the tens of billions of dollars of proceeds of crime that need to be laundered each year – including the $12 billion annually spent on illicit drugs such as cocaine. The vast majority is channelled into houses, apartments and commercial properties, said financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC. AUSTRAC’s deputy chief of regulation and reform, Bradley Brown, laid out the implications to a Senate inquiry in 2021. “The logical economic consequence of an unequal market means that if a person like you and I was competing next to a person who had illicit proceeds of crime, then it’s an unfair situation,” he said. Current AUSTRAC boss Brendan Thomas was more direct in a speech last month, saying Australians competing against drug dealers and money launderers to buy a home was definitely jacking up prices. AUSTRAC chief Brendan Thomas says money laundering is definitely driving up house prices in Australia. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer “It pushes up property prices,” Thomas said. “It takes a property that would otherwise have been purchased by a hard-working Australian and puts it in the hands of organised criminals seeking to line their own pockets with ill-gotten gains.” ‘Dirty money invested in real estate is a source of market demand that is not linked to local incomes, and the investments are made for reasons other than the pursuit of normal expected rates of return.’ Canadian government report The issue is a combination of Australia’s world-beating real estate boom and the complete lack of money laundering safeguards at the three essential gatekeeper professions – real estate agents, accountants and lawyers – which makes us fertile ground for criminals looking to legitimise their ill-gotten gains. Australia sits alongside Haiti and Madagascar as one of few countries yet to expand anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws to include these three professions. That is about to change. From July 1, 2026, they will be forced to know exactly who their clients are and report any suspicious source of funding – just like our banks and casinos. From the same date, anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing obligations will apply to professions such as real estate professionals, lawyers, conveyancers and accountants, who must undertake customer due diligence, including verification of the identity of a prospective customer and “suspicious matter” reporting requirements. The enticing question is: what happens to real estate prices if this flood of money is successfully kept out? The recent experience of our casino operators, such as Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment, suggests it could be significant, as both Chinese high rollers and pokies revenue dry up with stricter enforcement of regulations. Country protections against money laundering in real estate, ranked 24 major economies (including key international hubs) were scored on their ability to prevent and detect dirty money in real estate by anti-corruption NGOS. A new index by Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) has assessed 24 major economies, including key international hubs, on their ability to prevent and detect dirty money in real estate. The Opacity in Real Estate Ownership (OREO) Index evaluated these jurisdictions based on the availability of real estate data and the strength of their anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks. The findings reveal that many countries have significant vulnerabilities, allowing money launderers to exploit loopholes and hide their identities when investing in real estate. The OREO Index specifically assessed 18 G20 countries along with guest nations Spain and Norway, and global financial hubs like Hong Kong, Panama, Singapore, and the UAE. The index highlighted that even in high-performing countries, gaps in regulation and data transparency mean suspicious funds can flow through the market undetected. Transparency.org notes that the lack of comprehensive real estate data and robust AML frameworks creates opportunities for illicit funds to be laundered through property purchases. Source: Transparency International and Anti-Corruption Data Collective No one in Australia has tackled this real estate question, but Canada has – and in a market with many of the characteristics of Australia’s coastal cities: British Columbia’s Vancouver. Like Australia’s cities on the Pacific Rim, Vancouver is close to Asia and subject to many of the same ills when it comes to money-laundering crime. This has helped to make it one of the hottest real estate markets in the world. A panel of academic experts was assembled by the British Columbia government in 2019 to assess the impact of this criminal money on house and apartment prices in its red-hot market. They estimated it raised prices about 5 per cent, but said the impact on prices could be as high as 7.5 per cent. The issue is not just the billions of dollars involved. A Canadian government report estimated money laundering added up to 5 per cent to house prices in Vancouver.Credit: iStock “Dirty money invested in real estate is a source of market demand that is not linked to local incomes, and the investments are made for reasons other than the pursuit of normal expected rates of return,” the report said. So how has Canada fared since introducing anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws to its real estate sector? It’s too soon to tell, as its rollout won’t be complete until July 1, next year. But the report highlighted two significant factors that determine the impact on house prices. One is whether money is targeted at fewer trophy waterfront properties, or whether its impact is spread more evenly throughout a metropolitan area on more modest homes and apartments. The second factor is more significant given Australia’s housing shortfall: in a market short on supply, the real estate demand created by money laundering has a greater impact, experts found. The lack of supply means prices rise in response to any fresh demand. Most turnover of housing represents households upgrading, or downgrading, so they are buying and selling in the same market. The Canadian report points out that illicit funds from money laundering could be considered “new demand for real estate” and have an outsized impact if supply does not keep up with this fresh demand. That’s great news for current home owners in Australia’s undersupplied market. A 5 per cent price lift from organised crime in Sydney and Melbourne alone would add $185 billion to the value of homes and apartments in these two cities. It’s another reason why anyone wanting to enter the market should be hoping AUSTRAC succeeds in making life very difficult for our criminal underclass.
This post is not exactly about housing, but the cost of living. Decided to post it here because housing, especially Sydney is the main reason for financial stress imo. We thank "Australia the Lucky Country" governments for their "do nothing" abilities and the current staus quo. ‘I have no regrets’: My husband the escort When a young married couple fall into financial straits, the husband turns to escort work – at his wife’s urging – to pay the bills. By Anonymous July 18, 2025 https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...ts-my-husband-the-escort-20250707-p5md10.html Sitting in our dimly lit kitchen, waiting for my husband Ben* to tiptoe out of our toddler’s bedroom, I had two cups of tea made, pictures selected, and was rehearsing my pitch. I didn’t know whether this was totally nuts or I was a genius. As the one managing our finances, I’d become aware of the unsustainable nature of our living expenses much sooner than Ben. The increase in interest rates meant we only had a few months up our sleeve with our combined incomes (mine as a psychologist in outer Sydney, his in hospitality). Every beep of my phone as it hovered above a PayWave machine made me sick to my stomach. Seeing Ben, as a mature-age student, thrive for the first time in our 10-year-plus marriage had made me keep these concerns to myself. I had never seen him with this much purpose and energy – how could I take that away from him? Studying during the day and working several nights a week was already such a stretch, and it meant so much time away from our two-year-old daughter. Compounding our financial stress, we also had a desire for a second child. What the couple needed was a job that was overnight, didn’t require any additional training or experience, and could be done after their toddler was asleep.Credit: Stocksy I knew we needed more money, but I couldn’t figure out where exactly to find more time for either of us to work. The only option seemed to be overnight jobs. Security guard? They’d laugh at him. Overnight support worker? Damn, they required certificate-level qualifications. So, we needed a job that was overnight, didn’t require any additional training or experience, and could be done after our toddler was asleep. This is when I typed “male escort” into Google. As with everything, there was a shockingly wide range; from pornographic-type images of tanned, muscly men to cute, bookish, approachable guys – the common denominator being that their fees were about $300-plus an hour. My husband, he could do this. We’d met in our late 20s and each of us had had our share of lovers. Never shying away from those conversations about our past, our relationship had a best-friend vibe, despite being a monogamous marriage. We often joked about how many women I had to bat away when we finally committed to one another. Despite not being “built” or traditionally handsome, he was confident in his ability to engage with women. I was curious to see his response to what I’d Googled. Squinting and rubbing his neck, Ben finally shuffled out of our toddler’s bedroom. I handed him his cup of tea and first, showed him a spreadsheet. “I don’t think we can financially pull this off for much longer,” I said. “Ugh, I knew it – I’ll quit school,” he replied, in his usual, self-sacrificing manner. “No,” I said, “let’s just explore all avenues before we pull the plug.” I pulled up one of the classier escort sites. “These guys are making so much money – even if you went on one date a fortnight, we’d be able to manage.” I could see I’d piqued his interest after he snatched my laptop to read some of the “about me” sections. “Holy shit, you think I can do this?” he asked. “Yes, I do,” I replied. We wrote a quirky intro for him, added some cute pictures, set his fees (30-minute meet-and-greet option with no commitments, hourly, and overnight), and hit publish. We were giddy – we were cheating the system! Thinking outside the box! We’d found a way to make our lives work! When a few weeks went by without any requests, the anti-climax we felt quickly morphed into resentment, thinking we’d been scammed out of the $40 the site charged. Then, out of nowhere, Ben got his first request. The shock hit – now, this was totally real. Were we OK with it? Would it change our marriage forever? We created some safety measures: 1) If, after the first date, either of us felt uncomfortable in any way, he would cease immediately; and 2) he wouldn’t share any intimate details with me. As the night approached, the atmosphere in our home changed; it felt like the air had been taken out of our small apartment. We both withdrew into our own worlds. Mine had “don’t think about it” on repeat, and with work, study and parenting, we had little time to explore his. But given the increase in number (from a previous total of zero) of daily push-ups, I imagined that Ben, too, was managing levels of discomfort. My jealousy was eclipsed by fear. What if it was a scam? What if there was a gang targeting male escorts? Seeing him get ready for this date felt like an invasion of his privacy – it was such a foreign concept for two people who’d spent most of their relationship sharing a studio flat. When he came out dressed in his well-fitted dark jeans, simple T-shirt and jacket, smelling lovely, I recoiled – he’s mine! We exchanged I-love-yous and I wished him good luck, and he headed out. My jealousy was quickly eclipsed by fear. What if it was a scam? What if there was a gang targeting male escorts? What if he gets kidnapped? What will I say to the cops? What will I say to my parents? An hour in, I received a text: Meeting went well, am continuing with date. Love you. I distracted myself by phoning a friend. Speaking about it out loud to another person was a balm for my anxiety; with awe and curiosity, my kind friend distracted me with all sorts of questions. Where did we get this idea? How did he get a client? How much does he know about her? Has he seen pictures? What if he can’t perform? We knew that this date was with a trans person assigned female at birth. They’d agreed to meet in a busy restaurant. Having experienced physical violence due to their gender identity, the client was cautious and guarded. Ben immediately felt warmly towards them and found it easy to build rapport over drinks and, later, music. It was from this instant that he realised this job would be about so much more than just sex. When he returned home that night, he said, “Thank you for allowing me to do this – it was the easiest, most rewarding way I have ever earnt money.” Apparently, having sex with another person after all this time was “not bad or good, just, different”, and seemed to be the most insignificant part of the date. Very quickly, Ben was able to quit his hospitality job. He continued escorting over the next couple of years. During this time we had another child, and he had many repeat and regular clients, several of whom had a trauma history, or found intimacy difficult. Life at this stage was a blur of sleepless nights, him walking through the door late, lips still swollen from the Viagra, strapping the baby into a carrier and bouncing her into the night so I could rest. Most of his clients were mothers. Women losing themselves to the demands of motherhood, coming out of it decades later gasping for air, completely disconnected from who they were, their joy, and their marriages. Many were resentful. I often thought about them, wondering what had contributed the most to their failed marriages and loss of self. Was there a pattern? Was I safe from this future? They usually met in their homes, holiday homes, or a hotel room if they were out-of-towners. Ben would give them the “boyfriend experience”: hanging out, going to shows, galleries, dinners – even travelling overseas together. With the exception of our family life, which was off-limits, Ben was totally open with them, discussing his interests, art, hobbies; they’d exchange stories about their wild 20s, all of which allowed him to create bonds that felt authentic. Similar to my line of work as a psychologist, he created a sense of safety and connection; making clients feel validated and seen was a crucial element of the work (and the part that kept clients returning). His knack for reading people, along with his decades of hospitality experience, allowed him to easily adapt to what his clients needed from him. Occasionally, he worked with couples. In these instances, he found himself in the role of moderator, helping them navigate the boundaries needed to enjoy a threesome. I was in awe of how well he was able to adapt to the emotional complexity of this role. I remember another curious friend asking him, “But what about when you’re not attracted to someone?” His reply touched me: “Everyone has some attractive quality. I just focus on that.” Over time, it became easier for both of us to compartmentalise. When he was working, I rarely thought about what he was actually doing. What surprised me, however, was that although he was having the most sex of his life, he still craved intimacy with me. We felt more connected in our intimacy; it was a space for him to reclaim himself. Knowing that he preferred being with me, even though he had access to sex with other women, caught me off-guard – I’d never imagined this role could strengthen our bond. Ben quit escorting the moment we were able to scrape by without it. When I reflect on that time of our life, I have no regrets. People often believe that non-monogamy ends marriages. I believe that chronic financial stress, combined with overwork and limited quality time, create the real recipe for marital breakdown. Indeed, we are both proud of the work Ben did; a lot of these women got to experience a level of safety and connection in intimacy – similar to traditional therapeutic work – they’d never experienced before. For some, it would have given them a blueprint they could then apply to future relationships. *Name has been changed.
Opinion I’ve never seen more rough sleepers on Sydney streets Erin Longbottom Nurse August 6, 2025 https://www.smh.com.au/business/the...y-streets-it-s-shameless-20250806-p5mkp6.html I’ve seen a lot over the 14 years I’ve worked caring for people experiencing homelessness. I don’t shock easily. But since Martin Place’s tent city in 2016, I have never seen more rough sleepers in inner Sydney as there are right now. St Vincent’s and Mission Australia ran a combined health and welfare check in Wentworth Park for people living under the light rail bridge. Nurse Emma Barnett, right, checks up on a homeless patient who does not want to be named. With them is Mission Australia’s Amira Karam.Credit: Nick Moir Take Central Station. Sydney’s chief train station has long been a beacon for rough sleepers because of its relative safety and the availability of nearby homelessness services. It’s also a gateway for vulnerable people travelling to Sydney from elsewhere in NSW or interstate. Traditionally, both rough sleepers and newly homeless people have bedded down in its external doorways and alcoves. But now, such is their number, rough sleepers are increasingly seeking shelter on train platforms and throughout the main concourse. As someone who regularly patrols Central Station offering health care to rough sleepers, I have never seen so many using it for shelter. The other striking development: the number of women among them. It’s rare to see women sleeping rough, for obvious reasons. They are more vulnerable. More exposed. But with local shelters for women and children full, there’s nowhere else for them to go but the streets. Or back to their violent partners. ‘Which of these two people in urgent need – both with health issues, both homeless – do we accommodate in our one available bed and who do we turn away?’ There have been enough opinion pieces written on the housing crisis without me adding to it. We all know that what we’re seeing is a direct result of there not being enough affordable housing, particularly social housing, for the people who need it. We’ve heard about the housing crisis so many times we’ve become numb to it. Increasing housing stock will take years. The people I see sleeping on our streets don’t have years. Emma Barnett checks up on homeless patient Gilly and his two dogs.Credit: Nick Moir Homelessness is a death sentence. That’s not hand-wringing hyperbole. People who’ve experienced homelessness are four times as likely to experience premature death compared with the general population. Through our homeless health outreach, we regularly encounter people living on the streets who are also receiving treatment for a serious illness such as cancer. Can you comprehend how impossible it is to seek medical treatment for a serious illness while homeless? Or undergo chemotherapy while sleeping rough? Nurse Emma Barnett with another homeless patient, Gilly, and his companions. Credit: Nick Moir There are things we can do now to make a difference in people’s lives. To begin with, the authorities can stop moving on rough sleepers from Central Station, as we’ve seen take place recently. If they’re not a danger to anyone or themselves – and if there’s no emergency accommodation available – we should not be moving people on from the relative safety of Central. Taking away people’s belongings and moving them on – away from dry shelter during a cold, wet Sydney winter – is heartless and cruel. Sending people out into the harsh elements only means they will become sick and even more vulnerable. And I know times are tight but in the absence of more housing we must find more resources for crisis accommodation. Homelessness Australia’s analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing data shows an additional 72,000 people were turned away from crisis accommodation in 2023-24 – and three in four were women or children. Homelessness has increased, but the number of crisis beds has not. Nor has funding. Every day at St Vincent’s Hospital’s homeless health accommodation service, Tierney House, our team members are faced with a terrible choice: which of these two people in urgent need – both with health issues, both homeless – do we accommodate in our one available bed and who do we turn away? It’s a crushing position to be in. With appropriate funding, and working in partnership with homelessness agencies and community service organisations, we can find ways to generate more crisis accommodation quickly. It’s not a long-term solution but it’s better than accepting the unacceptable, which is letting things remain as they are. During the COVID pandemic, we saw an incredible co-ordinated response from government, policymakers and health and community organisations to create crisis accommodation in empty hotels. We proved that, together, we could move swiftly in an emergency and take the action that was needed. Sydney’s current homeless crisis is an emergency that is crying out for our collective response. Erin Longbottom is the nurse unit manager for St Vincent’s Homeless Health Unit, based in Sydney.
Very sad. Shades of Hoovervilles* during the Great Depression in USA during the 1930s in the aftermath of the stock market & real estate crashes. People living in tents & shantytowns and going to soup lines for their meals. * cynically named after Herbert Hoover who presided over the collapse
What makes Sydney the underquoting capital of Australia Almost half the time, Sydney property buyers are wasting their time pursuing places they can't afford, an exclusive data mining project reveals. by Nigel Gladstone, Aisha Dow, Lucy Macken and the Visual Stories Team August 9, 2025 They spilled onto the balcony, crowded into the kitchen and leaned against the loungeroom walls. The nervy, chattering group gathered in Marrickville for the auction of a two-bedroom unit with a leafy outlook and a price guide of $1.1 million. “It’s great to have a crowd like this back here in attendance,” declared the auctioneer. Among the eight registered bidders was Mark Ashdown, hoping to secure the home with a budget of up to $1.2 million. He had inspected the unit five times and spent $2000 obtaining reports examining the unit and arranging a deposit bond. Heartbroken - Mark Ashdown and his dog Otis. Ashdown spent thousands on a unit he wanted to buy but it sold for $300,000 above the guide. Janie Barrett But less than a minute after the first bid, the business analyst was out of the running. Offers quickly surpassed the guide price and the apartment sold for more than $1.5 million, $300,000 over the reported reserve. “I was heartbroken. I was in love with that property,” Ashdown recalled....... Continues, too long to post all.... https://archive.is/ybzQq
RBA issues shock warning of a poorer Australia as it cuts rates Michael Read Economics correspondent Aug 12, 2025 https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/...er-australia-as-it-cuts-rates-20250812-p5mm85 The Reserve Bank of Australia has downgraded its long-term outlook for productivity growth and warned the economy is incapable of sustainably growing faster than 2 per cent per year, in a grim reality check just one week before Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Economic Reform Roundtable. Announcing a widely anticipated decision to cut the cash rate to 3.6 per cent from 3.85 per cent on Tuesday, the RBA said it now believed productivity would grow by just 0.7 per cent per year over the medium term, down from its previous assumption of 1 per cent annual growth. Cutting the cash rate to 3.6 per cent, the RBA warned the economy was incapable of growing faster than 2 per cent in a reality check before Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ reform roundtable. Michaela Pollock The decision marked the first time since the pandemic the central bank has downgraded its assumption for productivity growth, which feeds into its broader economic projections. The RBA warned weaker productivity growth meant the economy would be smaller and poorer than would have otherwise been the case. “Productivity growth is a key driver of real wages growth in the long run; lower labour productivity growth weighs on growth in per capita income and wages,” the RBA said in its quarterly update to its economic forecasts. “This will weigh on most types of activity in the economy. For example, households will consume less than otherwise because their incomes are growing at a slower rate, while lower growth in incomes will weigh on tax revenue and therefore public spending.” Weaker productivity growth means that wages can only grow by 3.2 per cent per year over the long-run without fuelling inflation, according to the RBA. It also means businesses will invest less than they otherwise would have. The RBA’s warning shot comes just one week before Chalmers’ three-day economic reform summit, where the government will canvass ways to improve productivity in a closed-door meeting with 24 stakeholders including businesses and unions. RBA governor Michele Bullock will deliver a brief presentation on day one of the summit outlining Australia’s economic outlook. The RBA said productivity growth globally had slowed over recent decades, and it was updating its assessment to reflect reality, though it admitted even its new forecast may be too high. Productivity has barely grown in Australia since 2016. “There is evidence to suggest that this reflects persistent factors, including declining business dynamism and competition, slower technological diffusion in the economy and lower growth in the amount of capital per worker,” it said. The RBA said the boom in hiring across government-funded industries like health, education and the public service had also weighed on productivity growth recently. The weaker outlook for productivity means the economy is only capable of sustaining a trend GDP growth rate of 2 per cent without hitting supply constraints and fuelling inflation, according to the central bank’s forecasts. It had previously assumed trend GDP growth – how quickly the economy can sustainably grow over the medium-term – was 2.3 per cent. Declining productivity growth had already spilled over to weaker economic activity, the RBA said. “Slower productivity growth has directly weighed on growth in wages, incomes and so household spending. “As such, it appears that wages, household incomes and spending have adjusted in response to the slower growth in the supply side of the economy.” Rate cut widely tipped The RBA’s productivity downgrade will complicate any attempt by Chalmers to sell Tuesday’s rate cut as a good news story. The cut was widely anticipated by both economists and financial markets after June quarter CPI data showed underlying inflation continued to moderate. In its post-meeting statement, the RBA board said it was still cautious about the outlook given the heightened level of uncertainty about both aggregate demand and potential supply. “The board will be attentive to the data and the evolving assessment of risks to guide its decisions. In doing so, it will pay close attention to developments in the global economy and financial markets, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market,” the RBA board said. Economists predict the RBA will lower interest rates another 0.25 percentage points to 3.35 per cent by Christmas, but expect the pace of easing will slow after that. Most economists think the so-called “neutral rate” – the level where the RBA would set the cash rate to be neither stimulating nor slowing the economy – is somewhere around 3 per cent, though these estimates are highly uncertain. The RBA monetary policy board shocked financial markets in July when it voted 6-3 to leave the cash rate on hold at 3.85 per cent, despite expectations the nine-member committee was almost certain to lower interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. The three dissenting board members voted for a rate cut. Bullock said at the time she wanted to wait for June quarter inflation data before delivering further easing. Those figures, which were released late last month, showed underlying inflation moderated to a 3.5-year low of 2.7 per cent in June, setting up a near-certain interest rate cut on Tuesday. More to come