Thread by @GrayConnolly

Obviously today is Anzac Day, so I was occupied elsewhere, but I was very flattered to see Ross Gittins' article discussing my Housing discussion with the ABC's Andrew West & @BrennanKate on Blue Labor/Red Tory matters.
theage.com.au/business/the-e…

Please listen to the interview here. Both @BrennanKate & I discussed political futures based on solidarity & that recognises our current politics is hopelessly sclerotic & does little to address critical issues, esp housing & intergenerational wealth

https://twitter.com/GrayConnolly/status/1516700615942230016

I have absolutely NO idea why the main ABC News & @SkyNewsAust do not cover Housing issues. We have had a steadily decreasing % of Australians 40 & under who own property & younger Australians are well behind where their parents were at similar ages. The Pandemic made this worse

Australia is a Federation & our disastrous housing situation has its various culprits at Federal (esp RBA appointees), State (infrastructure & laws around land use), Local (crony NIMBYism). It is now a crisis that seems unfixable absent some revolt at the ballot box or elsewhere

I cannot speak to what people on the Left do but the Right's politics has historically thought it prudent that as many people as possible have a home & a stake in society that they would want to *conserve*. Very hard to have conservatism if people have NOTHING to conserve.

In the 9 years the Coalition has been in power, federally, our Right of centre politics has done almost NOTHING to assist younger Australians to get a home. If only out of electoral self interest, Right politics usually sees more homeowners and mortgagors as politically sensible.

Abbott, Turnbull, now Morrison, have done so little to help the next generation get ahead (doubt Labor would have done any better, either. The Greens would have made everyone poorer etc). The sclerotic & idiotic politics we have - now with faux Independents - is bad made worse.

It is in everyone's interest that prosperity be broadly if not equally shared - that as many people as possible have a stake in the society & something to conserve. Conservatives like Disraeli & Bismarck - no cloth cap working class heroes, these two - got this as #Realpolitik

I worry Australia will be a less stable, pluralistic, country if we do not assure some measure of housing ownership & wealth equity for younger people. Jurisdictions of landlords & renters become Socialist ones. Conservatives need to use the power of law & the state to fix this

Weirdest part of this for me, anyway, is why is it up to me to raise this issue? Why is not every politician being asked what they are doing *right now* to increase the stock of affordable housing? How do you propose to govern a polity where decks are stacked against the young?

Australia has traditionally been a land of hope & 2nd/3rd/4th etc chances for people from all over the world. It has been a place where thrift & hard work could see you get on your way. Now, a decade of QE means no interest on your meagre savings & stagnant living standards.

TL:DR whatever the 2022 election is about, if it is not about Housing & intergenerational wealth disparities, then the election is proceeding fraudulently & our sclerotic politics of insiders & donors will provoke the inevitably brutal electoral reaction. You were warned etc.

To his credit @KosSamaras gets this. More of you need to get this, if only out of self-interest. People without homes, same as people without bread, are primed to revolt. It is why 1 in 3 Australians are voting for minor parties/faux "Independents" etal.

https://twitter.com/KosSamaras/status/1518732738660286465?s=20&t=1rDWJSIuRhniU0Z0RmFFGQ

Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart, Tasmania, started "St Joseph Affordable Homes" in 2020 to provide apprenticeship training and to build affordable & social housing - 52 homes completed with 400 to be built. Bravo to Archbishop Porteous & his team

sjah.org.au/about-us