Less houses more sleeping cubicles.
How can that be right?
Population growth (net) is about 1.8% or ~400k a year, migration/immigration is ~175k or about 0.75%
And itâs relatively stable at that - pretty strictly controlled.
Housing cost growth over the past 10-20 years way way WAY outstrips that. Sometimes as much as 10% a year in the big cities.
Doesnât add up.
Medium density housing in suburbs and along train lines will have to be part of the solution IMO.
We tend to have skyscrapers, then detached houses, with not much in between. Hence the sprawl. Very different mix to most of the big cities in the world which have a big belt of medium density (small blocks of flats) in between.
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More trouble in the Coalition, with opposition by moderate backbenchers to substantive reform of 18C and Bishop also slamming backbenchers for threatening to cross the floor on the China extradition treaty.
It seems in both cases that any Labor or Greens opposition to the government on the two issues was not the cause of the failure of the government to secure passage of legislation.
Hard times indeed for Malcolm
Well if itâs getting knocekd back in the lower house, where theyâve got a 2 vote majority, then yes it has to be seen as a LNP failure - and we have a dead duck PM.
Not sure Turnbull would be at all upset by the knockback of the changes to 18C since the only people who want it are the people who hate him.
Extradition treaty with China is something most of Australia wouldnât want, given Chinaâs appalling human rights record.
Neither is something Iâd be losing sleep over.
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Also given up on Company Tax until budget time.
Interesting that it seems 18C a more pressing issue than that.
IPA was at the back of 18C , has two Coalition members plus Leyenholme and is a major Liberal party donor. IPA has not given up on the issue, but at this stage is only blaming crossbenchers.
On the China extradition treaty, Australia has a strong self interest in bring back some major criminals who have fled to China. There are some safeguards in the treaty and judging by Wongâs comments, it seems that there is room for bipartisan compromise on amended wording.
So Company Tax for Business with a turnover up to $50 million is being cut 2.5%. Turnbull says this will stimulate employment and create jobs.
Well letâs assume my Company has a turnover of around $5 mill, and last year our taxable income was around $500,000.
This means, I get an extra $12,500 to employ more Workers !
Hmmm, not sure I can find anyone trained with the skills we need for about $6.50 per hour, so thank you Mr Turnbull and Senator X, you just gave me $12,500 to spend on me.
Even if we were at the top end of this farce at $50 million and made $5,000,000 taxable income; $125,000 a year is perhaps one employee, who I donât need and who will not increase my turnover, so again, this money would go into my pocket.
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The small turnover businesses were just a ploy to get the big end of town out of paying as much tax under the rather wobbly premise that it will mean theyâll suddenly start employing more checkout chicks. Everyone likes the family run milk bar types. Not so much the coles and safeways. Hence, the big boys are now left out of it and all thatâs left is this which is a handy little boost for small business owners who often donât get heard much on policy.
$50 million bucks is not a small turnover.
In any case, no family run milk bar if they still exist would pay any tax now. Coles and Woolies pay tax, but Aldi doesnât pay much.
If I was in charge iâd end daylight savings every Sunday.
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I suspect that a lot of it is that its gradually built to the point where only those with equity in their 1st (or subsequent) house can afford to buy. Second factor will be the dual income status of many couples.
I think the whole idea of âchinese buyersâ (a term that actually covers plenty of nationalities) is relevant in specific pockets - where i am in Wantirna for instance has Estate Agents brandishing lists of Chinese buyers looking for access into specific schools. But i dont think its the main driving force of the whole market.
A median price approaching $1mil , whilst average wages sit at around $70k, is not just a horrible joke but is likely to have profound social impact somewhere down the track.
Not that the governments really care. Vic Gov pocket upwards of $55k every time someone forks out $1mil on a property.
The net result is that âwealthâ continues to be measured in property and the have/havenot gap widens exponentially.
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Part of the reason housing prices have gone up are because of the ridiculously low interest rates. Itâs enabled people to borrow more.
Theyâve tightened the rules on interest-only loans, to ensure the banks etc have no more than 30% of their portfolios in interest-onlyâŚcurrently 37%+.
Of course, interest-only loans are predominantly taken out by investors since theyâre more interested in the tax deductions and capital gains.
Might be nice if that got tightened even further to say 25% and reduced negative gearing entitlements and increased the interest rate.
Id actually like to positively gear a property somewhere⌠But how do you find a cash-flow positive unit in such a superheated market!? Youâd need 50% deposit or more, surely? Which just isnt doable at current prices and with three kids!!
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Positively geared properties are usually in areas with low capital growth. And it doesnât matter what your deposit is the rent has to be able to cover all your outgoings including cost of deposit for it to be truly positively geared.
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Government in the next budget will now âcrack downâ on cash in hand payments and people who donât declare it.
All my musician and artist friends are shattered
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Trigger warning.
Below article may include statements that whilst truthful may cause distress to some people.
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Oh look, itâs tripper, the class warrior.
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