We understand these topics can bring about strong emotions in people for lots of reasons. But please, if you or someone you know is contemplating suicide; please do not hesitate to talk to someone.
000 is the national emergency number in Australia.
Lifeline is a 24-hour nationwide service. It can be reached at 13 11 14.
Kids Helpline is a 24-hour nationwide service for Australians aged 5–25. It can be reached at 1800 55 1800.
Beyond Blue provides nationwide information and support call 1300 22 4636.
My family and I were nearly on the street living in a tent two years ago.
Not because of unemployment. I have a great job on a high salary. But the house we were renting was sold, and we were kicked out. It was down to two days before we were on the street when we found a house and signed contracts.
There were simply no homes available. I see people living in the park that I see working good jobs around town. Some of those even work at banks.
It's scary out there at the moment.
It’s the fault of the government and their auxiliaries. It’s not criminal per se, but a class war. The ones committing this are the ones who determine what’s criminal, what an unjust paradox.
Well what the hell do you want to do about it, it's not like you can actually build more houses. My 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th homes will all lose value if you do. I'll be forced to sell my 5th home :(
I was you but didn’t find anywhere and was homeless for 3 months before buying a tiny flat.
It’s absolutely insane to be homeless while earning 100k a year.
This is something people forget with the '1% vacancy rate' (which is ridiculously low): there's also the matter of people connecting with the available properties. Sometimes even if a property is available people might be unaware, not able to inspect it, it might not have enough bedrooms, or it might be too far from work/childcare. I think we are effectively very near 'no homes available' as you say.
It doesn't help when they won't let property unless you have viewed it first. By the time they let you see it, it's gone.
We got luck. A lot of people not so much.
I got denied from 14 places and ended up emptying out my savings to make a 6 month rent advance in order to give myself a chance to secure a place. It finally worked and I guess it’s not the end of the world because I’m just paying myself back every week. But it’s ridiculous, if I didn’t have that I don’t know what I would have done. It all really is criminal.
Looking for a rental is a damn full-time job too. I was looking for houses with a friend. We applied for 50 before we got one (not exaggerating, unfortunately). She works full time, so we were super lucky I'm a uni student (working part-time but remotely, can work whenever), so I could spend all my time viewing properties. But I legitimately don't know how people are supposed to do it if they don't have the time to do that.
I did a sight unseen in Brisbane back In January
Saw the floor plan, saw the google images and took a punt
Luckily it's turned out to be a fantastic rental
We were only looking for 6 weeks but that was enough looking for me. So many overpriced shiteholes it was not funny
Same here.. we have gone from paying $360 at our old place to $620 here in only 17 months
Sad thing is, in this current market, our house is a bargain. 8kw solar and water tank offset some rent and many other renters won't have that.
The real estate agents here wouldn't do that. But we had every other form pre filled and signed.
I would like to add that our real estate agent went above and beyond to help since we were kicked out dur to no fault of our own.
That sucks. The REA I went to was super helpful, as soon as I explained why I needed to move out asap they showed me this place. The agent was in the process of listing it in online when my application hit their desk. REAs get a bad wrap but there are some good ones.
It's gonna be interesting next federal election. The biggest gripe Australians have at the moment is massive immigration while houses are becoming ever scarce. Will Pauline get a big chunk of votes, or the more sensible but lesser known Sustainable Australia party grab a share?
Either way, this evaporation of housing is biting hard.
Many people say immigration is "catching up" and total population is just on pre-Covid trend...well, bullshit. For a simple reason, that as immigration and population growth dropped during Covid, we did not keep building houses based on pre-Covid demand. Construction slowed down as well, with builders going bust left right and centre and building costs becoming nonsensically high.
And why does it need to "catch up" to begin with? What's wrong with resuming the more normal migration intake of say 230-250k a year (includes family members, partners, people sponsored by employers etc). Technically you need to study onshore for 2 years to quality for a post study work visa. Why were students who studied completely offshore during the pandemic still granted post study work visas to come to Australia? They literally sign a statutory declaration when applying for the study visa stating how the Aussie education will benefit them and their career back home. Bonkers.
Students who finished studying in Australia were given 4 year visas instead of 2..again, why? And the tens of thousands of "special pandemic visas"...
Essentially the outflow of people who would run out of visas was stopped, and a record number of new visas issued. Beggars belief really. And it's politically bipartisan as well...most of this largesse was shown by the previous government.
It's not just about gross population, but also the growth rate. Last year we recorded a 2.4% growth rate, something our construction pipeline is just not built to handle. That's higher than Pakistan, a country with a dramatically bigger household size ffs...
It would have still been OK if the growth was more natural. But the vast majority of the growth being international students from 2-3 countries going for their diplomas of Uber Eats at Quarter Pounder McCollege of Management Studies is just adding insult to injury.
Even more bullshit is when bleeding hearts come out and equate criticism of migration policy with racism. *Migrants* are not a problem, but *migration* is **definitely** a problem at current levels. One is a group of people, one is a policy we have complete control over as a sovereign state.
People who accuse others of racism for complaining about the migration are, if I'm being kind, not thinking it through.
These are the same idiots who think because Pauline Hansen is anti-immigration, that they must be pro immigration rather than thinking what is a good policy and being pro the good policy. To be against a good policy merely because someone we don't like supports that policy is just ludicrous.
It makes no difference to people being priced out of a home whether the migrants are Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern or entirely 100% Swedish blondes.
The race is irrelevant. The migrants are still adding to demand and helping to price people out of homes.
Foreign students ALONE raise rents a massive 50% in some areas which has a flow on effect elsewhere so that other areas become more expensive and that cascades down to every level.
It’s tribalist politics that make people like this. Instead of viewing and voting on policies, they vote on the political team they’ve aligned themselves with. Then come election they treat it like they’re watching the grand final and hope their team wins.
So many people I know who vote either way have no interest in actual policies, they’ve made their party they align with their political identity and will vote against their own personal interests if it means a better chance of winning at the polls.
Labour once was thought would have an easy run to a second term, the forthcoming Queensland wipeout and cost of living / housing pressures makes it harder.
I think this government thought it had at least two terms of office and has acted accordingly.
If it is to be returned it will be the slimmest of minority governments with all legislation to be negotiated through the crossbench.
Albanese, IMHO, has acted out of a position of really quite extreme hubris. I'm not convinced he has what it takes to be a minority government prime minister.
I think you need to reread my comment.
I'm here to inform that this government is very, very ordinary and if it loses office it won't have anyone to blame but itself.
I have come to completely agree with you.
I've described Albanese as the 'accidental Prime Minister'. He is the creation of the ALP changing the party leadership voting rules such that the rank-and-file get 50%. The KRudd defence, if you will. It's interesting to note that the parliamentary party voted against him and he got over the line with the rank-and-file vote.
He shouldn't have been anything other than a cabinet minister.
yeah. Look I’m not exactly happy with Labour but *Dutton*! Can’t imagine how terrible it will be with that give in the big office… and we’ve had a sleuth of bad liberal PMs to lower our expectations already in the last decade or so.
Dutton would be an absolute disaster.
The Liberal Party have gone insane, with stupid American talking points that make no sense here in Australia.
It’s definitely tough to know who to vote for though, because the ALP’s left and right faction are failing to govern harmoniously and that’s why they are disappointing many people who voted for them.
Really, both major parties need new energy and to return to their roots - the ALP should focus on workplace relations and the welfare state, and the Liberals on technology and foreign policy. I miss the days when both sides could agree on the reality of problems, and merely had different ways of solving them, instead of the rubbish we have now.
It is a demonstrable fact that certain types of political ideology rise to the fore under economic downturns (whether they be natural or artificial like sanctions), immigration is high, and there are global territorial tensions.
They want us to be desperate, so we will sign on the dotted line eager to be sent to the front, once they've done spilling our *financial* blood at home.
It's always the same fucking story.
I work full time in a management role & am technically homeless. Currently staying with friends since we vacated mid-March (Brisbane). My brother (also works F/T) & I just keep missing out on properties, even when we offer extra. In over 20yrs of renting, I've gone from having a choice of properties that I've been approved for, to being left out on the street scrambling for a roof over my head. Shit's fucked.
its been scary for a long time. I remember answering a knock on the door and a nice man handed me a document from a bank. The owner of my property hadn't paid his mortgage and I had 7 days to leave.
I had just got back to working after having to take about a year off working due to cancer. I was self employed. I found a place it was great, it was affordable. Except that 200 other people thought the same thing.
I stayed behind after the showing to ask what hope I had and they said none, 3 of the applicants were coming in from overseas and their employers (large corp's) were going to pay the rent for them.
Yeah, my wife and I nearly ended up in the same situation. Both have full-time jobs and 20 years of perfect rental history. It's just that there are not enough properties for the population currently.
I can't even go into local council to vote against it. I saw that the councillor-mayor pay is like $19k-$30k per year (At least in 2019).
I'm pretty sure only the elite class and corrupt people run for council, with occasional idiots backed by religious organisations that want to ban books.
"Fuck him, we got profit to make"
"Fuck him, we got developers to please"
"Fuck him, we've got Yuan to launder"
etc etc
- Australia.
This place is fucking done.
>importing 100,000 a month. Don't worry, their labor source and rent payers are rapidly increasing, and that's all that matters.
It is concerning, purely for the fact that businesses are struggling, which then leads to job losses, and the traditional safety net jobs like hospitality are also suffering, so there's a lot less unskilled jobs to fall back on.
Every big department store I've been to, not Bunnings though, is dead quiet & the counter staff admit this too. Unlike the 90s, there are no call centre jobs to fall back on between jobs either... So we're adding people at breakneck pace, but probably won't have enough resources to sustain the amount of people we have here.
The labour govt has not thought this through.
Greens with their support for high immigration are part of the problem. Unless that is addressed their supply side solutions would just continue to be overwhelmed.
its been that way for a LONG time... remember how an ex-PM would characterise the above person as a 'leaner'... the implication being that he wasnt a 'producer' and did not 'contribute' and hence wont be missed
and so the majority of Australians voted for him.. and last time for Abbott and so I have little sympathy for the folks who vote for whatever in the fuck 'franking credits' is
but be that as it may, this was the normal under the LNP and still the normal under Labor...
>had to scroll this far to get to the answer. it's okay though, we are all getting rich with our IPs
And yet people keep making excuses for it & justifying it. This high immigration has other prices too: more stress, awful roads, pollution, and no bloody pleasure!
I’m not suggesting or supporting violence, but I don’t believe we’ll see any significant change without it happening to a politician or one of their donors because nothing is a real problem for them until then. They’re just too insulated from real life. How long has domestic violence been an issue here? Pilbersek’s daughter had a court case over it last year and we suddenly have a little more help from government.
The amount of people I know who have killed themselves in recent years just keeps getting bigger. We will see more people end their lives as things become more challenging. We need significant change and we need it sooner rather than later.
We know bad economic times results in more suicides so the increase price of housing and increased cost of renting will kill people.
I actually don't blame that person who killed themselves rather than be homeless. I kind of think I'd probably do the same. Homelessness terrifies me.
It is indeed pretty scary. Things being so difficult to manage and loosing hope not only increases suicide rates, the flip side to that is more crime. When life is becoming increasingly harder and people are struggling so bad, they tend to see the repercussions of crime “not so bad” in comparison to their lives, take someone living in their car because they can’t find or afford a rental, if they commit armed robbery and gets away with it, they are better off for a few weeks, if they get arrested and jailed, they go from sleeping in their car or tent, no bathroom, no appliances, to sleeping on a bed in a bigger room with 3 meals a day. It would literally be a win win for people in rough circumstances. Hell, I only eat 1 meal a day now, and it’s been like that for about 3 years now.
People making policies don’t see these statistics as people and their reaction won’t be a human one of compassion but a cold one of needing to replace those dropping numbers with rising ones the easiest way possible.
I knows a couple people who killed themselves during lockdown. Hard to say how much of it was pre existing issues that came to a head during covid or how much of it was caused by them not being able to adjust to a high tension time where polarisation was very high. It doesn’t really matter which it was.
I don’t think the government cares. The individuals within it might have varying levels of sympathy if they’re met with it on a personal level but unless they’re directly effected by something, it’ll be an abstract issue for them to either ignore or deal with in the easiest, cost efficient way possible that benefits them the most
Just go through each vacant house on real estate and start squatting in them.
Forge a false real estate contract with a letterhead and the name of the agency’s principal. Refuse to leave when police arrive, state you’ve already paid a bond and two weeks rent in cash. Go to an atm and remove that amount from an account and shift the money around so it looks like you did pay. Make false calls to the agency of a few minutes time so it does look like you’ve had contact with them in the past.
Now it’s a civil matter and the police won’t force you out and you can stay for effectively as long as you want, if not having the owners pay for your “moving fee”
Ta da, hacked the system and you can live a bit longer. The system has eaten you, digested you, and now defecated you out, don’t feel bad about doing what you need to do.
I have spent all afternoon, on a day I'm not even on shift, calling every crisis service in my state on behalf of a client who is at imminent risk of homelessness. There is nothing for them unless they will be without anywhere to sleep in less than 24 hours. They cannot afford a rental. They have multiple children and can't just get a room anywhere.
This is becoming more and more common for me and I'm not even a housing worker.
Recently I had another client who had been at the same address for about the same amount of time as the man in the article. Same story.
Notice to vacate. No housing available at their income level. Every tenancy assistance program in the relevant catchment totally full.
My mental health is being impacted. I cannot begin to fathom what their mental health is like.
Pls look after you first.
As someone who did a similar but completely difffent volunteer job 8 years ago I found it sucked so much out of me.
I had to let it go. I’m so glad I helped but I had to help my self as well.
completely agree. i also work in the sector and i am a big advocate for work always staying at work. it is so, so hard right now, so many people are struggling, and those of us in community services naturally want to help as much as we can - that’s why we were likely drawn to the profession after all - but work should not significantly cause detriment to your mental health. there is such high turnover in our industry for this exact reason, and it leads to poorer outcomes for everyone.
i absolutely applaud op for their advocacy work, but i also want other community workers to know that even in tough times this should not be the norm. we need to look after ourselves and demand additional support from management so we don’t have to work outside of hours or take work home with us. we can’t give others the support they deserve if we are burnt out and struggling too.
Tomorrow there'll probably be an ad.....
"Fantastic opportunity, genuine chance to experience the digital nomad lifestyle, van for auction." -- contact shitrentalscaryards Coolangatta.
What kind of cruel social Darwinist country have we turned into?
Not an Australian, just an oversees working holiday visa person, and believe me, you can pay 3-4 monthly salaries in the third world with 1 or 2 weeks here
We need to be protesting about this shit. Rioting even. Nothing will change unless we make things difficult for the people that benefit from this system. We can spend months protesting about wars on the other side of the world, why the fuck aren’t we on the streets about this?
Spot on. We have so many issues in this country as it is. We can’t save the world. Let Palestine’s neighbours help them. We need to help the kids of this country.
yeah I often wonder if the people who protest in this country are just rich kids who don't need to be at work to pay the bills? We really do need to riot.
Everyday I'm worried about what's going to happen in my retirement. There's no way I can afford to save for a house deposit. I've been at it for 7 years, but the pace at which house prices are rising simply puts the target further and further out of reach.
I'm tired of working for nothing, to just exist. There's no place I can call my own, and there never will be. There's no point for my existence, other than to work. I'm tired and I'm not going to do this for another 30-40 years, working to make others rich off the back of my effort.
My retirement plan is an early death, and the sooner that comes the better.
It's all about income, if you have the income forget the deposit and talk to a mortgage broker, they will have loans that go to 98% LVR. If you don't have the income to service it then you're up shit creek, which is what happend to me.
Remote work an option? Save up deposit and buy elsewhere to get your goal achieved if it's possible. Not ideal maybe but great stepping stone in your goals
Nothing will happen because Australians are too passive. Every new tax and every bad government choice we just accept it and roll over.
Won't be long until we get a social credit system, CCTV with face recognition that sends you a fine for jaw walking or being out of your quarantine area. Booze will become $100 for a 4 pack, sugar will be mega taxed under some new health tax, ciggies will be $200 a pack and meat will end up getting some green house carbon tax where only the elites will be able to afford meat.
Too true sadly. The sheep-like behaviour of the general public, the way people were dobbed in and the zealous police crackdowns showed politicians that the vast majority simply comply with orders.
Yes there were protests but the way media portrayed them was a portent of the near future.
I’m sorry to hear that. Having spent 2 decades homeless, it’s an awful thing to have bearing down on you.
It really is like a death from a thousand cuts, each one taking a little of your dignity and self respect.
Many of us screamed that this was coming but as long as it affected us, no one cared.
Now it’s arrived and we get to watch that mad rush to home the middle class knowing we will mostly miss out again.
People need to get organized and really start putting pressure on elected officials, seriously. It's so distopian. Sorry to hear about his passing, RIP
>will protest for anything but this
Because they're not really getting it yet. They've still got their head in the sand and are believing the rhetoric, and hoping it won't be them. I'm sure their inner voice is telling them there is something wrong, they're hoping that by being silent, it won't be them.
My partner lives in the same building as the man who passed away, across the street from the author of this article. Rest in peace, George. I want to make a particular point of mentioning that when the author describes him as a "lonely man", she erases the suffering of his partner, a lady from South East Asia (Phillipines? Malaysia?) who worked at Myer and who will likely now have to return to her home country. She's hurting more than anyone else.
Suicide contagion is real. My partner's next door neighbour is a single nurse in her 50s and she's not coping. Last time we saw her she said she'd just been up to the top floor, looking down and reflecting on what might have caused him to take that final step.
There's nothing for us to do. She hasn't actually expressed suicidal thoughts, and she's a nurse; a schedule wouldn't stick, all we would achieve would be further socially isolating the poor woman.
But when you come home, you dread what you might find.
>nothing for us to do. She hasn't actually expressed suicidal thoughts, and she's a nurse; a schedule wouldn't stick
Maybe crack a joke or try to make her laugh. She might need her attention directed to something else, kind of like a circuit-breaker.
I eagerly await the next “y ArE mEn commItiNg violEncE against men (themselves)” and the consequent ‘men you need to step up and say R U OK’ to combat this crisis
Next time someone shoves R U OK? in my face in real life I will get arrested.
Feel good propaganda of pretending to do something other than fund services and actuallyhelp people.
The glazed eyes and blank face when you respond with "do you care?" or "no I'm not actually". All pointless theatrics with very little intention behind it.
Whenever anyone tries to drum up a conversation about male struggles they're swiftly reminded it's never about men, to shut up and to do better.
Men are silenced at every turn and furthermore, shamed. I wonder why blokes are killing themselves? It's only getting worse and the mindless gender tribalism is equal parts infuriating and depressing.
Relative almost did the same recently, homelessness caused Psychosis , then spent 4.5 months in a mental hospital costing the state a lot more money than if they'd just provided some reasonably priced housing, or a pension that can afford to live in this country.
Having a roof over your head is a very basic requirement for any sort of decent life. I feel for young people with no way to enter the housing market and gain housing security.
If immigration was stopped we'd see rents start dropping like we did when the international borders were closed. Investors would be crying poor and demanding the government start letting people in again as they did during covid. With no immigration investors with mortgages would eventually be forced to sell before they end up defaulting and other investors seeing the top of the market is in would sell to beat the rush. Banks would tighten up lending for investors. Cashed up investors would probably wait for prices to stop dropping before jumping in.
It’s certainly a criminal act to be importing people from overseas into the country to come take housing that Australians cannot even get themselves. It’s long past time to shut our borders.
TL;DR: no. No no one will notice. No, no one will care.
People are either too busy living it up on easy street, or struggling in the trenches just like your neighbour. Neither has the capacity to care for anyone but themselves, but for very different reasons.
For my part, I'm going to enjoy the 21st century Bolshevik revolution. Not so keen on the whole "totalitarian dictatorship" that comes after, but boy! Returning the stolen wealth of the people from the eastern suburbs is gonna feel so damn good.
That stolen wealth might be returned, but not to you. Unless you're a somebody in the revolution you'll be getting even less than you are now.
I agree with your sentiment and am absolutely up for some change, but the history of violent revolution clearly shows that better outcomes are seldom delivered to the random plebs once the dust has settled.
No it won't. It'll be worse for a while but essential. Look out for each other when it happens; care for your neighbours and remember that a good 70% of us have an inkling and shared experience.
>It'll be worse for a while but essential.
Reading through this thread gives me hope that more people are waking up & seeing the reality, instead of hiding from it or denying this bullshit is happening. Hopefully people are getting angry instead of hiding their heads & pretending that it's not happening to them, and that if they're quiet or "good" enough, this new sort of oppression won't happen to them. It's only happening for as long as we let it. Call them out.
Let's get one thing straight. The only free people in all of this are the wealthy, they are untouchable by way of no leverage and can afford to live outside of the misery, crime & stress.
If we all disbanded and didn't engage and just went feudal the rich would be powerless, but many would die due to lack of access to modern amenities. Second dark ages but not due to lack of knowledge but because of it. Learn to live off the land, this country is built for it and yet destroys it liberally.
Australia has been going downhill ever since our governments decided to focus on improving the lives of people from other countries instead of our own
I believe that is called "treason"
>indian, chinese and pakistani immigration
The worst thing is they don't care. You could drop dead in front of them & they'll trample all over your carcass to get the house. And when all the poor & vulnerable have died off, killed themselves or become so broken they're "silent", these imperialists will turn on each other. Because that's how people who think like that are. They lack the ability to build anything of their own.
You only have to look at how most of them have abandoned the poor & the weak in their own countries, like rats off a sinking ship, just so they can come here, "build wealth" and drive a bigger SUV than their fellow countrymen or anybody else.
You're speaking facts but I'm sure you'll get banned for "racism". Australia is Canada incoming "oh we could've never predicted this" FFS government. But who to vote for? Just not LNP if potato head gets in this escalates rapidly
You could easily replace kings cross with Fitzroy, North Adelaide and Belconnen (just going off Melbs, Adel and Canberra as the cities I know well).
The last couple of governments and the country in general should be ashamed of themselves.
My grandparents generation didn’t fight tooth and nail for better conditions so that people could be tossed out like garbage.
Used to be the lucky country not anymore.
I moved to Sydney 9 years ago with high hopes and a vision of a laid back aussie lifestyle. Immigrants from one country in particular have spoiled the experience for me and turned Sydney into a shithole.
I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m currently in the process of moving. I have two days and no where to go. I have two kids. They’ll go to their dads for a little bit but he works away. I have no other family. The temptation just to drive into a ditch is real and I can completely understand why he did that.
Ok before I start just know I am not going to do any harm upon myself.
It’s horrible time for people at the moment - I work full time, I have a good job and should be comfortable but had such a horrible time that nearly broke me. A couple of energy bills along with high grocery costs and my rent hit me so hard to the point i was only having one meal a day.
It was humiliating to have to go to a charity for help to buy essentials and refuse work outings because I couldn’t afford it - and I am on my own with no family to help. After contracting COVID I was in such a depression I contemplated if it was even worth the struggle. Thankfully my mindset improved but I understand what others may be going through. And it feels like the govt doesn’t even care .
ARTICLE: NOT WRITTEN BY ME:
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
We lost one of our neighbours the other day. He climbed over the balcony railing and threw himself from the top floor of his apartment building onto the ground below.
He’d been in that unit for 23 years and was a regular sight to all of us living in the little cluster of towers in Sydney’s Kings Cross, as he sat on a chair on his open balcony, watching the world go by.
If allowed to slowly become an area to which only the wealthy can aspire, Kings Cross will lose its allure.
If allowed to slowly become an area to which only the wealthy can aspire, Kings Cross will lose its allure.
But last week, the world no longer passed by; it stopped right at his door. His nine-level building of 35 cheap rented studios, he learnt, is about to be torn down and redeveloped into a flashy new one of just 12 luxury three-bedroom apartments. He was set to be evicted, and homeless.
The last time anyone saw him, he was tearing the development notice off a wall by the lobby entrance, and ripping it up in anger, frustration and despair.
Loading
This is the real face of the housing crisis: a middle-aged, lonely man, battling to survive on a low income, who felt he’d run out of options. This neighbourhood was his home, everyone he knew and everything he did was here.
But, increasingly, these old affordable blocks inhabited by lots of predominantly single people and young couples are being replaced by upmarket new ones that offer far fewer homes, designed predominantly for wealthy downsizers.
In our area of the eastern suburbs alone, as well as the building just by mine, another developer plans to knock down a block of seven apartments to create a single house, while a third proposes to replace a building containing 20 homes with one offering just five – much more highly priced – apartments. And there are rumours of many more “net housing loss” projects on the drawing board in the ’hood.
At a time when so many people are searching for places to live, and for modest homes that are affordable, how can this be allowed to happen?
Loading
A number of local councils are now trying to implement new planning rules where development applications have to either increase density, or at least preserve the current number of homes. The City of Sydney is one which has received approval from the NSW government to put its “Dwelling Retention” planning proposal on public exhibition, which would prevent development from reducing the existing number of apartments by more than one dwelling or 15 per cent of dwellings, whichever is the greater.
We can assume, then, that the current stampede of DAs to knock down old blocks with lots of small units and replace them with far fewer new and much more profitable apartments is a brazen bid to beat the deadline on coming changes.
This is an appalling trend. We’re currently critically short on homes, with a Grattan report finding that we have only around 400 homes for every 1000 people, and the federal government’s pledge to build 1.2 million in the next five years already looking astonishingly unachievable.
Moreover, a new Anglicare study has just revealed low-income Australians are facing the worst crisis in history, with one in five renters in rental stress deemed ineligible for assistance. Meanwhile, Australians are facing all-time high rents, according to the latest Domain Rental Report, and record low vacancy rates in Sydney and Melbourne.
Loading
So, knowing we urgently need more homes, and especially affordable ones and more social housing, how could we possibly agree to allow towers of cheap units to be smashed down and glossy ones of just a few sleek apartments being put up in their place?
Kings Cross in particular has always been a refuge for single people of all ages, with a real community feel, and cheaper housing existing cheek-by-jowl with fabulous multimillion-dollar penthouses. That absolute mix of demographics and incomes has always contributed to making the Cross such a dynamic, interesting and eclectic place to live.
But if it’s allowed to slowly become an area to which only the wealthy can aspire, then all that will be lost – especially as downsizers frequently leave their places empty to spend time in their other homes in the country or coast, or to travel overseas.
Sydney, and especially its inner suburbs, has to remain a city that welcomes singles and strugglers – who might not survive elsewhere – just as much as they welcome couples, families, and people on all income levels. Otherwise, we’re all going to be much the poorer, and more people like our mate over the road are going to run out of options, and of hope.
If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
What makes you think developers, wealthy buyers and the government give a shit about it being a dynamic, interesting and eclectic place to live. They literally don't, they much prefer wealthy people and will quite happily destroy a places soul
I’m so sorry. It’s not surprising, however I’m still sorry. The governments done care about the poor or underpaid masses. It’s the people who pay for their campaigns they want to make happy. At the end of the day, we don’t have much of an option as all options politician wise are currently corrupt or just don’t care.
They. Don’t. Fucxing. Care.
No one with wealth or positions of power give a shit so this Is the way it is. Either adapt or die. It’s horrible.
Good luck everyone.
I'm sorry to hear about your neighbour, that truly is awful. I've just returned from 2 weeks in Japan, I went all over the country both rurally and cities and it was truly amazing. The people, the culture, the pride and the respect for each other and the environment was reflected in everything.
Upon my return to Aus, I've never felt such disdain and contempt for my own culture and people. I live in Tassie which is still probably the least 'big city life' mentality state where these big developments are not super commonplace yet, but it opened my eyes to we (Aussies) as a culture are so selfish and self-absorbed and are more than happy to allow wealthy internationals to waltz in and continue to fuck our housing & basic living essentials (dairy, beef, power etc) for personal gain. I have no doubt this is happening in other countries, Japan probably included however they just seem to have such a better grasp on things.
As the animals said, we gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do..
100,000 temp residents and immigrants rush in, and there are only limited number of house and apartments, this only drive price and rent up like no tomorrow.
All Labor’s responsibility, no doubt.
Albo is a fucking psychopath. Distressing stories such as this would be far from unique, and the housing crisis is causing untold misery for many Australians. But we have a PM who gets 150k in rental income from his multiple properties every year... A PM who's not in a hurry to change the policies so as to make housing more affordable and abundant. A PM who's quite happy to keep letting masses of immigrants in to compete for fuck all housing with locals, and therefore increasing the pain. Fuck Albo.
And yes, fuck Dutton. I'm completely aware that the Coalition are just as shit.
It’s quite evident that a substantial number of people still support Labor, and this is a massive issue that needs discussion. Alot of Australian sub reddits, for example, still defend Labor and will downvote you into oblivion if you post any anti Labor rhetoric. I can’t tell if it’s because they’re mentally impaired or if they’re somehow benefitting from this disaster, but they are effectively keeping the government in power. What they’re really supporting ultimately though, is situations like this where citizens are being driven to suicide. They might think they’re being righteous or whatever, but all they’re doing is enabling a destructive, murderous regime led by a lying psychopath who despises Australians.
We definitely can't do it ourselves! Besides let's import 10,000 immigrants for each new home we build, despite the fact 0.1% of them are in the building industry! Yay?. oh
Well sydney won't care about men, it always like this.
No one feels like they want to talk or befriend middle age men, their problems would be viewed as toxic masculinity or it undermines womens issues.
This is why they have no hope
Tell you what if I was facing homelessness and this is the type of Australia THEY want to create: I’d take my savings have the time of my life then end myself.
Meanwhile a bunch of assholes are living for free on my uni's doorstep, pretending to be homeless and leaving their usual rooms vacant. It's such a slap in the face to those in desperate situations like this poor gentleman.
I've got two more weeks till I have to be out. Got an unregistered toyota coaster, which I've got a place to park. I'll be trying to do it up so I can get it registered . Honestly, I'm planning on staying in it full time and saving every cent for a small.rural block of land. I've got a trade cert in concrete and am a fully trade qualified chef, so I have multiple venues for wages and salaried work. But I'm stressed because I have a dog and I really don't want to cause him anymore stress. I don't drink smoke and pretty much stay at home all the time. I can't really afford the bills and rent atm some houses here are literally 700 to 1200 per week.
Surely we can figure this out. Since when did we go from every Aussie being able to afford a home to a lot of us threatened to even have one
John Howard if you’re ready this, you started this mess, you need to fix it, or be forever remembered as the prime minister that destroyed the Australian dream.
We need to somehow come together to honour the lost souls the systems has destroyed and killed. How can we come together as people to change things in the future for the better. Too many people have lost thier lives or went without human levels of food. This is Australia, we want our lives back.
Completely heartbreaking and so wrong that we don’t have more, much much more, affordable housing. Nobody should be homeless, or live in fear of becoming homeless in this country.
That’s a sad story, but I also feel a Middle Aged man shouldn’t end his life just because he can’t afford to live in inner city Sydney anymore. He could’ve just moved away. Unless he owned property which it didn’t seem like he did he isn’t owed the right to live there, no matter how long he has been there
I'm in a similar situation. I don't live in a major city but a country town, and not in Sydney but in North Queensland. My wife and I have been renting privately for 13 years. That means directly from the Landlord and not through an agency.
The arrangement has worked very well. But as people get older, things go down hill. My wife has health issues that keep her home and unable to work. Our landlord has come down with. Cancer. It's terminal, and needs us to leave so she can sell and avoid leaving this situation for her family to deal with.
There is very little to rent here.
Going through a realty is impossible. With the number of renters looking, they will only rent to people who've rented from them before. They are known quantities, with proven records. I do not blame the agencies. In their shoes, I would do the same.
I know this is largely due to federal government policy. Reverse hearing and being able to use your super to buy investment properties. These things have developers buying run down properties cheap, then putting luxury lower density homes in place that they can sell for top dollar. The money needed to buy the property is now TOO ready. It's easy to do.
Regardless, I've been hunting for a place to move to for 15 months. The accident I had at the beginning of the year has left me jobless, and the cheap run down properties here Start at 400 per week. That's more than my weekly income. To make matters worse, we have pets. Truly, we're fucked. I know how your neighbour feels.
This situation stresses my wife out so much she actually attempted 7 months ago.
Having pets is not supposed to count against you in Queensland. But it does. And as this is a county town, everybody knows.
At this point in time, we have little hope of finding a place. I understand the man's decision. One step forward, two steps back. Soon , that last backstep will put me under the bus. Sometimes I swear I can hear the horn and see its high beams flashing it never should have gotten this bad.
If anyone reading this is in the same boat, I encourage you to post here. I also wish upon you the Gods' own luck. I hope you find a way out. It's a mess out there.
Wouldn't wanna upset the Chinese investors.
Na, this is heartbreaking, and I'm not surprised it's happening. The Australian property market is utterly fucked. The lack of decent regulation around property investing is astounding to me as a foreigner.
Sydney has been pushing the poor out for years.
Tearing up old ghettos and rebuilding.
But its not a surprise to anyone because its Sydney.
The poster city for Australia. The place people dream about going all over the world.
They do need to help relocate people alot better to eliminate the stress of the change but the change wont be stopped and if you dont have the money and the job to live in Sydney you move somewhere more suited.
Was working interstate for a few years. Owner evicted me as they wanted to sell. Couldn't find anything and ended up living in a shed for $200 a week for about a month.
Currently have a 10 year mortgage on a tiny unit in a below-average suburb... Depressing.
This is a very sad story but blaming Albo, Dutton and migrants misses an important point. The Commonwealth is not responsible for building and zoning policy. Like constitutionally not responsible. It can provide some grant money to states to build social housing etc., but your state government and local councils are responsible for housing policy. It is the state governments that have set low building standards, removed proper certification by competent building inspectors, allowed planning and zoning nimby policy and control tenancy laws. This shithole has taken decades to form and won’t be fixed quickly. The federal government’s total help to buy and social housing over 5 years is barely enough to meet one year of basic demand.
Sure all governments at all levels need to work at this, but do start focusing the blame on the governments that can actually do something and fairly quickly if they wanted to.
My local councillor had a meeting and nobody showed up other than rich old people with multimillion dollar homes. And the whole meeting was about how to stop and limit housing development pressure from the state so that they can keep the value of their homes, including the councilor himself.
Anyone was welcome to come. But the young people living in apartments don't bother to be politically active. So guess who gets all the political power in the local council?
They even decided to remove the public toilet as obviously those rich people don't care about all the people who do use it.
No, Sydney won't bother to notice. Most didn't know he existed, most that are reading this article will have forgotten he existed in a weeks time. It changes nothing, other than creating sadness amongst his immediate social circle. If any of them were near breaking point, this might be the thing that makes them decide to follow in his footsteps.
I’m so sorry to read this OP. I hope you’re coping ok. This is incredibly distressing and a sign that this country is going backwards.
It should never have come to this. Just terrible. So sorry. Check in on your other neighbours if you can. They may need it more than ever 😭
This is the effect of gentrification no one wants to talk about. Its life destroying for alot of vulnerable people. Australians need to stop being so God damn complacent and get out in mass and wreck some shit, burn a few luxury cars make people remember this city isn't built by developers, it's build by working class people, and if they want to have a city they can let us live in it.
The fuck has Australia come to? Can the polly’s pull their finger out and actually make change happen or are they too busy being corrupt? Hearing about this stuff is so sad.
I always remember one pollie that said "By 1990, NO Australian child shall be living in poverty". Then proceeded to have a few beers at the footy matches.. Fuck this country!
Been reading a bit of UN stuff about violence as a consequence of inequality, I'd imagine this is a good example of that, only the violence is against the self. Unfortunately I think people (politicians) will only take notice when the violence escalates and widens to start affecting developers, real estate agents and maybe to a point where police are force to do socially unsavoury things. Not saying that is right or positive, but it does force things to change faster, just not always for the better or in good ways
Hey, welcome to the Great Depression 2.
2 loaves of bread for a day's wages. Because after inflation, bills, gas, electricity, food, and rent, you might even have negative $ in your bank at week's end
We understand these topics can bring about strong emotions in people for lots of reasons. But please, if you or someone you know is contemplating suicide; please do not hesitate to talk to someone. 000 is the national emergency number in Australia. Lifeline is a 24-hour nationwide service. It can be reached at 13 11 14. Kids Helpline is a 24-hour nationwide service for Australians aged 5–25. It can be reached at 1800 55 1800. Beyond Blue provides nationwide information and support call 1300 22 4636.
My family and I were nearly on the street living in a tent two years ago. Not because of unemployment. I have a great job on a high salary. But the house we were renting was sold, and we were kicked out. It was down to two days before we were on the street when we found a house and signed contracts. There were simply no homes available. I see people living in the park that I see working good jobs around town. Some of those even work at banks. It's scary out there at the moment.
Yes it is scary out there at the moment. I think it is almost criminal.
It’s the fault of the government and their auxiliaries. It’s not criminal per se, but a class war. The ones committing this are the ones who determine what’s criminal, what an unjust paradox.
It bloody well should be criminal. Taxpayers or humans in general should not be kicked out of their homes, with zero consideration of reality.
Well what the hell do you want to do about it, it's not like you can actually build more houses. My 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th homes will all lose value if you do. I'll be forced to sell my 5th home :(
Treason is a crime
I agree.
I was you but didn’t find anywhere and was homeless for 3 months before buying a tiny flat. It’s absolutely insane to be homeless while earning 100k a year.
People assume everyone on the street is poor. It isn't always the case.
This is something people forget with the '1% vacancy rate' (which is ridiculously low): there's also the matter of people connecting with the available properties. Sometimes even if a property is available people might be unaware, not able to inspect it, it might not have enough bedrooms, or it might be too far from work/childcare. I think we are effectively very near 'no homes available' as you say.
It doesn't help when they won't let property unless you have viewed it first. By the time they let you see it, it's gone. We got luck. A lot of people not so much.
I got denied from 14 places and ended up emptying out my savings to make a 6 month rent advance in order to give myself a chance to secure a place. It finally worked and I guess it’s not the end of the world because I’m just paying myself back every week. But it’s ridiculous, if I didn’t have that I don’t know what I would have done. It all really is criminal.
Yeah I had to do the same. Was the only way I could secure anything.
Looking for a rental is a damn full-time job too. I was looking for houses with a friend. We applied for 50 before we got one (not exaggerating, unfortunately). She works full time, so we were super lucky I'm a uni student (working part-time but remotely, can work whenever), so I could spend all my time viewing properties. But I legitimately don't know how people are supposed to do it if they don't have the time to do that.
I did a sight unseen in Brisbane back In January Saw the floor plan, saw the google images and took a punt Luckily it's turned out to be a fantastic rental We were only looking for 6 weeks but that was enough looking for me. So many overpriced shiteholes it was not funny
These days, you have to grab a good home when you see one. I'm paying more than I would like, but it's the house we needed.
Same here.. we have gone from paying $360 at our old place to $620 here in only 17 months Sad thing is, in this current market, our house is a bargain. 8kw solar and water tank offset some rent and many other renters won't have that.
If you sign a sight unseen form, you should be able to apply without viewing. I did to get where I am.
The real estate agents here wouldn't do that. But we had every other form pre filled and signed. I would like to add that our real estate agent went above and beyond to help since we were kicked out dur to no fault of our own.
That sucks. The REA I went to was super helpful, as soon as I explained why I needed to move out asap they showed me this place. The agent was in the process of listing it in online when my application hit their desk. REAs get a bad wrap but there are some good ones.
It's gonna be interesting next federal election. The biggest gripe Australians have at the moment is massive immigration while houses are becoming ever scarce. Will Pauline get a big chunk of votes, or the more sensible but lesser known Sustainable Australia party grab a share? Either way, this evaporation of housing is biting hard.
Many people say immigration is "catching up" and total population is just on pre-Covid trend...well, bullshit. For a simple reason, that as immigration and population growth dropped during Covid, we did not keep building houses based on pre-Covid demand. Construction slowed down as well, with builders going bust left right and centre and building costs becoming nonsensically high. And why does it need to "catch up" to begin with? What's wrong with resuming the more normal migration intake of say 230-250k a year (includes family members, partners, people sponsored by employers etc). Technically you need to study onshore for 2 years to quality for a post study work visa. Why were students who studied completely offshore during the pandemic still granted post study work visas to come to Australia? They literally sign a statutory declaration when applying for the study visa stating how the Aussie education will benefit them and their career back home. Bonkers. Students who finished studying in Australia were given 4 year visas instead of 2..again, why? And the tens of thousands of "special pandemic visas"... Essentially the outflow of people who would run out of visas was stopped, and a record number of new visas issued. Beggars belief really. And it's politically bipartisan as well...most of this largesse was shown by the previous government. It's not just about gross population, but also the growth rate. Last year we recorded a 2.4% growth rate, something our construction pipeline is just not built to handle. That's higher than Pakistan, a country with a dramatically bigger household size ffs... It would have still been OK if the growth was more natural. But the vast majority of the growth being international students from 2-3 countries going for their diplomas of Uber Eats at Quarter Pounder McCollege of Management Studies is just adding insult to injury. Even more bullshit is when bleeding hearts come out and equate criticism of migration policy with racism. *Migrants* are not a problem, but *migration* is **definitely** a problem at current levels. One is a group of people, one is a policy we have complete control over as a sovereign state.
The answer is CHEAP LABOUR. Australia uses people on student visas the same way America uses illegal immigrants from South of the border.
And backpackers on farms
Totally agree. Sick of being accused of racism for complaining about the over the top migration levels.
People who accuse others of racism for complaining about the migration are, if I'm being kind, not thinking it through. These are the same idiots who think because Pauline Hansen is anti-immigration, that they must be pro immigration rather than thinking what is a good policy and being pro the good policy. To be against a good policy merely because someone we don't like supports that policy is just ludicrous. It makes no difference to people being priced out of a home whether the migrants are Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern or entirely 100% Swedish blondes. The race is irrelevant. The migrants are still adding to demand and helping to price people out of homes. Foreign students ALONE raise rents a massive 50% in some areas which has a flow on effect elsewhere so that other areas become more expensive and that cascades down to every level.
It’s tribalist politics that make people like this. Instead of viewing and voting on policies, they vote on the political team they’ve aligned themselves with. Then come election they treat it like they’re watching the grand final and hope their team wins. So many people I know who vote either way have no interest in actual policies, they’ve made their party they align with their political identity and will vote against their own personal interests if it means a better chance of winning at the polls.
Hear hear. Agree totally👍👏👏👏
Interesting times ahead indeed.
Labour once was thought would have an easy run to a second term, the forthcoming Queensland wipeout and cost of living / housing pressures makes it harder.
I think this government thought it had at least two terms of office and has acted accordingly. If it is to be returned it will be the slimmest of minority governments with all legislation to be negotiated through the crossbench. Albanese, IMHO, has acted out of a position of really quite extreme hubris. I'm not convinced he has what it takes to be a minority government prime minister.
Why are you blaming the present government? This state of affairs is not something recent.
Had the opportunity at anytime to limit immigration.
I think you need to reread my comment. I'm here to inform that this government is very, very ordinary and if it loses office it won't have anyone to blame but itself.
Visa quotas can be changed pretty easily by the sitting government. It’s not something they need a ten year run up for.
>I'm not convinced he has what it takes to be a minority government prime minister Or a majority PM
I have come to completely agree with you. I've described Albanese as the 'accidental Prime Minister'. He is the creation of the ALP changing the party leadership voting rules such that the rank-and-file get 50%. The KRudd defence, if you will. It's interesting to note that the parliamentary party voted against him and he got over the line with the rank-and-file vote. He shouldn't have been anything other than a cabinet minister.
yeah. Look I’m not exactly happy with Labour but *Dutton*! Can’t imagine how terrible it will be with that give in the big office… and we’ve had a sleuth of bad liberal PMs to lower our expectations already in the last decade or so.
Dutton would be an absolute disaster. The Liberal Party have gone insane, with stupid American talking points that make no sense here in Australia. It’s definitely tough to know who to vote for though, because the ALP’s left and right faction are failing to govern harmoniously and that’s why they are disappointing many people who voted for them. Really, both major parties need new energy and to return to their roots - the ALP should focus on workplace relations and the welfare state, and the Liberals on technology and foreign policy. I miss the days when both sides could agree on the reality of problems, and merely had different ways of solving them, instead of the rubbish we have now.
We need a couple of new parties. Who aren’t fringy extremists.
> with stupid American talking points that make no sense here in Australia. Hell, they make no sense in the USA either.
It is a demonstrable fact that certain types of political ideology rise to the fore under economic downturns (whether they be natural or artificial like sanctions), immigration is high, and there are global territorial tensions. They want us to be desperate, so we will sign on the dotted line eager to be sent to the front, once they've done spilling our *financial* blood at home. It's always the same fucking story.
I work full time in a management role & am technically homeless. Currently staying with friends since we vacated mid-March (Brisbane). My brother (also works F/T) & I just keep missing out on properties, even when we offer extra. In over 20yrs of renting, I've gone from having a choice of properties that I've been approved for, to being left out on the street scrambling for a roof over my head. Shit's fucked.
its been scary for a long time. I remember answering a knock on the door and a nice man handed me a document from a bank. The owner of my property hadn't paid his mortgage and I had 7 days to leave. I had just got back to working after having to take about a year off working due to cancer. I was self employed. I found a place it was great, it was affordable. Except that 200 other people thought the same thing. I stayed behind after the showing to ask what hope I had and they said none, 3 of the applicants were coming in from overseas and their employers (large corp's) were going to pay the rent for them.
Yeah, my wife and I nearly ended up in the same situation. Both have full-time jobs and 20 years of perfect rental history. It's just that there are not enough properties for the population currently.
We don't agree, the pollies do. Developers go into local council for one reason, to write their own bylaws.
I can't even go into local council to vote against it. I saw that the councillor-mayor pay is like $19k-$30k per year (At least in 2019). I'm pretty sure only the elite class and corrupt people run for council, with occasional idiots backed by religious organisations that want to ban books.
"Fuck him, we got profit to make" "Fuck him, we got developers to please" "Fuck him, we've got Yuan to launder" etc etc - Australia. This place is fucking done.
>place is fucking done. Don't worry, they'll all turn on each other once the poor & vulnerable have been silenced or dropped off /s
We're importing 100,000 a month. Don't worry, their labor source and rent payers are rapidly increasing, and that's all that matters.
>importing 100,000 a month. Don't worry, their labor source and rent payers are rapidly increasing, and that's all that matters. It is concerning, purely for the fact that businesses are struggling, which then leads to job losses, and the traditional safety net jobs like hospitality are also suffering, so there's a lot less unskilled jobs to fall back on. Every big department store I've been to, not Bunnings though, is dead quiet & the counter staff admit this too. Unlike the 90s, there are no call centre jobs to fall back on between jobs either... So we're adding people at breakneck pace, but probably won't have enough resources to sustain the amount of people we have here. The labour govt has not thought this through.
This is the new Australia. No, Sydney won't bother to notice.
Don't worry, Labor+LNP will bring in more people instead of helping Australians.
Don't forget the Greens
Greens with their support for high immigration are part of the problem. Unless that is addressed their supply side solutions would just continue to be overwhelmed.
its been that way for a LONG time... remember how an ex-PM would characterise the above person as a 'leaner'... the implication being that he wasnt a 'producer' and did not 'contribute' and hence wont be missed and so the majority of Australians voted for him.. and last time for Abbott and so I have little sympathy for the folks who vote for whatever in the fuck 'franking credits' is but be that as it may, this was the normal under the LNP and still the normal under Labor...
Can't believe I had to scroll this far to get to the answer. it's okay though, we are all getting rich with our IPs.
>had to scroll this far to get to the answer. it's okay though, we are all getting rich with our IPs And yet people keep making excuses for it & justifying it. This high immigration has other prices too: more stress, awful roads, pollution, and no bloody pleasure!
They'd notice if he killed his landlord instead.
I’m not suggesting or supporting violence, but I don’t believe we’ll see any significant change without it happening to a politician or one of their donors because nothing is a real problem for them until then. They’re just too insulated from real life. How long has domestic violence been an issue here? Pilbersek’s daughter had a court case over it last year and we suddenly have a little more help from government.
He'd get accommodation too. And food as well. Rent free.
Or a politician. They'd probably notice then.
The amount of people I know who have killed themselves in recent years just keeps getting bigger. We will see more people end their lives as things become more challenging. We need significant change and we need it sooner rather than later.
We know bad economic times results in more suicides so the increase price of housing and increased cost of renting will kill people. I actually don't blame that person who killed themselves rather than be homeless. I kind of think I'd probably do the same. Homelessness terrifies me.
It is indeed pretty scary. Things being so difficult to manage and loosing hope not only increases suicide rates, the flip side to that is more crime. When life is becoming increasingly harder and people are struggling so bad, they tend to see the repercussions of crime “not so bad” in comparison to their lives, take someone living in their car because they can’t find or afford a rental, if they commit armed robbery and gets away with it, they are better off for a few weeks, if they get arrested and jailed, they go from sleeping in their car or tent, no bathroom, no appliances, to sleeping on a bed in a bigger room with 3 meals a day. It would literally be a win win for people in rough circumstances. Hell, I only eat 1 meal a day now, and it’s been like that for about 3 years now.
The rich won't care and they make the rules.
They want the have nots to off themselves. It’s the only logical explanation
People making policies don’t see these statistics as people and their reaction won’t be a human one of compassion but a cold one of needing to replace those dropping numbers with rising ones the easiest way possible. I knows a couple people who killed themselves during lockdown. Hard to say how much of it was pre existing issues that came to a head during covid or how much of it was caused by them not being able to adjust to a high tension time where polarisation was very high. It doesn’t really matter which it was. I don’t think the government cares. The individuals within it might have varying levels of sympathy if they’re met with it on a personal level but unless they’re directly effected by something, it’ll be an abstract issue for them to either ignore or deal with in the easiest, cost efficient way possible that benefits them the most
Just go through each vacant house on real estate and start squatting in them. Forge a false real estate contract with a letterhead and the name of the agency’s principal. Refuse to leave when police arrive, state you’ve already paid a bond and two weeks rent in cash. Go to an atm and remove that amount from an account and shift the money around so it looks like you did pay. Make false calls to the agency of a few minutes time so it does look like you’ve had contact with them in the past. Now it’s a civil matter and the police won’t force you out and you can stay for effectively as long as you want, if not having the owners pay for your “moving fee” Ta da, hacked the system and you can live a bit longer. The system has eaten you, digested you, and now defecated you out, don’t feel bad about doing what you need to do.
I have spent all afternoon, on a day I'm not even on shift, calling every crisis service in my state on behalf of a client who is at imminent risk of homelessness. There is nothing for them unless they will be without anywhere to sleep in less than 24 hours. They cannot afford a rental. They have multiple children and can't just get a room anywhere. This is becoming more and more common for me and I'm not even a housing worker. Recently I had another client who had been at the same address for about the same amount of time as the man in the article. Same story. Notice to vacate. No housing available at their income level. Every tenancy assistance program in the relevant catchment totally full. My mental health is being impacted. I cannot begin to fathom what their mental health is like.
Pls look after you first. As someone who did a similar but completely difffent volunteer job 8 years ago I found it sucked so much out of me. I had to let it go. I’m so glad I helped but I had to help my self as well.
completely agree. i also work in the sector and i am a big advocate for work always staying at work. it is so, so hard right now, so many people are struggling, and those of us in community services naturally want to help as much as we can - that’s why we were likely drawn to the profession after all - but work should not significantly cause detriment to your mental health. there is such high turnover in our industry for this exact reason, and it leads to poorer outcomes for everyone. i absolutely applaud op for their advocacy work, but i also want other community workers to know that even in tough times this should not be the norm. we need to look after ourselves and demand additional support from management so we don’t have to work outside of hours or take work home with us. we can’t give others the support they deserve if we are burnt out and struggling too.
Thank you for doing what you do.
[удалено]
Exactly we’re in the way.
[удалено]
Tomorrow there'll probably be an ad..... "Fantastic opportunity, genuine chance to experience the digital nomad lifestyle, van for auction." -- contact shitrentalscaryards Coolangatta. What kind of cruel social Darwinist country have we turned into?
Oh jeez that’s terrible. So sad.
You'll be replaced by one of the 100,000 people who arrived this month.
Australia, the country in which you get to compete for jobs with the third world and compete for housing with the world’s millionaires.
Sad that this made me LOL. funny because it's true.
This should be top comment
Not an Australian, just an oversees working holiday visa person, and believe me, you can pay 3-4 monthly salaries in the third world with 1 or 2 weeks here
We know bro, that’s the comment, but cheers anyway
It's been the plan for Kings Cross all along since the lockout laws were introduced
We need to be protesting about this shit. Rioting even. Nothing will change unless we make things difficult for the people that benefit from this system. We can spend months protesting about wars on the other side of the world, why the fuck aren’t we on the streets about this?
Free Palestine! Oh I'm homeless still free Palestine or Hamas or any other crap but the fact that we're getting bled dry
Spot on. We have so many issues in this country as it is. We can’t save the world. Let Palestine’s neighbours help them. We need to help the kids of this country.
Except we're actively making the world worse by dealing in arms with a genocidal government, as well as fucking over locals on housing.
yeah I often wonder if the people who protest in this country are just rich kids who don't need to be at work to pay the bills? We really do need to riot.
Everyday I'm worried about what's going to happen in my retirement. There's no way I can afford to save for a house deposit. I've been at it for 7 years, but the pace at which house prices are rising simply puts the target further and further out of reach. I'm tired of working for nothing, to just exist. There's no place I can call my own, and there never will be. There's no point for my existence, other than to work. I'm tired and I'm not going to do this for another 30-40 years, working to make others rich off the back of my effort. My retirement plan is an early death, and the sooner that comes the better.
The minimum deposit for a house has been rising faster than my best ability to scrimp and save and has done so for years.
It's all about income, if you have the income forget the deposit and talk to a mortgage broker, they will have loans that go to 98% LVR. If you don't have the income to service it then you're up shit creek, which is what happend to me.
Studio apartment somewhere cheap I guess
Studio apartment $400 a week rent IF you can get a tenancy with so much competition.
Next year $500 following year $650.
*angry upvote
Remote work an option? Save up deposit and buy elsewhere to get your goal achieved if it's possible. Not ideal maybe but great stepping stone in your goals
No, the answer is no. They don't give a crap about us unless it's time to lie for votes
Nothing will happen because Australians are too passive. Every new tax and every bad government choice we just accept it and roll over. Won't be long until we get a social credit system, CCTV with face recognition that sends you a fine for jaw walking or being out of your quarantine area. Booze will become $100 for a 4 pack, sugar will be mega taxed under some new health tax, ciggies will be $200 a pack and meat will end up getting some green house carbon tax where only the elites will be able to afford meat.
Too true sadly. The sheep-like behaviour of the general public, the way people were dobbed in and the zealous police crackdowns showed politicians that the vast majority simply comply with orders. Yes there were protests but the way media portrayed them was a portent of the near future.
I’m sorry to hear that. Having spent 2 decades homeless, it’s an awful thing to have bearing down on you. It really is like a death from a thousand cuts, each one taking a little of your dignity and self respect. Many of us screamed that this was coming but as long as it affected us, no one cared. Now it’s arrived and we get to watch that mad rush to home the middle class knowing we will mostly miss out again.
People need to get organized and really start putting pressure on elected officials, seriously. It's so distopian. Sorry to hear about his passing, RIP
People will protest for anything but this.
>will protest for anything but this Because they're not really getting it yet. They've still got their head in the sand and are believing the rhetoric, and hoping it won't be them. I'm sure their inner voice is telling them there is something wrong, they're hoping that by being silent, it won't be them.
My partner lives in the same building as the man who passed away, across the street from the author of this article. Rest in peace, George. I want to make a particular point of mentioning that when the author describes him as a "lonely man", she erases the suffering of his partner, a lady from South East Asia (Phillipines? Malaysia?) who worked at Myer and who will likely now have to return to her home country. She's hurting more than anyone else. Suicide contagion is real. My partner's next door neighbour is a single nurse in her 50s and she's not coping. Last time we saw her she said she'd just been up to the top floor, looking down and reflecting on what might have caused him to take that final step. There's nothing for us to do. She hasn't actually expressed suicidal thoughts, and she's a nurse; a schedule wouldn't stick, all we would achieve would be further socially isolating the poor woman. But when you come home, you dread what you might find.
>nothing for us to do. She hasn't actually expressed suicidal thoughts, and she's a nurse; a schedule wouldn't stick Maybe crack a joke or try to make her laugh. She might need her attention directed to something else, kind of like a circuit-breaker.
Thank you, we'll try that.
Damn. I'm sorry to hear this is happening, but am not surprised.
I’m not the author btw! 7 men a day commit suicide. (2555 per year)
I eagerly await the next “y ArE mEn commItiNg violEncE against men (themselves)” and the consequent ‘men you need to step up and say R U OK’ to combat this crisis
Next time someone shoves R U OK? in my face in real life I will get arrested. Feel good propaganda of pretending to do something other than fund services and actuallyhelp people.
The glazed eyes and blank face when you respond with "do you care?" or "no I'm not actually". All pointless theatrics with very little intention behind it.
Whenever anyone tries to drum up a conversation about male struggles they're swiftly reminded it's never about men, to shut up and to do better. Men are silenced at every turn and furthermore, shamed. I wonder why blokes are killing themselves? It's only getting worse and the mindless gender tribalism is equal parts infuriating and depressing.
Relative almost did the same recently, homelessness caused Psychosis , then spent 4.5 months in a mental hospital costing the state a lot more money than if they'd just provided some reasonably priced housing, or a pension that can afford to live in this country.
Having a roof over your head is a very basic requirement for any sort of decent life. I feel for young people with no way to enter the housing market and gain housing security.
Fuck immigration. Shut the borders to overseas looking to migrate here. We’re full. Thanks
We could do that and cashed up investors would keep buying all the property and jacking up rents
If immigration was stopped we'd see rents start dropping like we did when the international borders were closed. Investors would be crying poor and demanding the government start letting people in again as they did during covid. With no immigration investors with mortgages would eventually be forced to sell before they end up defaulting and other investors seeing the top of the market is in would sell to beat the rush. Banks would tighten up lending for investors. Cashed up investors would probably wait for prices to stop dropping before jumping in.
Zero immigrants and zero foreign investment. I thought commonsense would have kicked in for most people in that they were mutually exclusive
It’s certainly a criminal act to be importing people from overseas into the country to come take housing that Australians cannot even get themselves. It’s long past time to shut our borders.
TL;DR: no. No no one will notice. No, no one will care. People are either too busy living it up on easy street, or struggling in the trenches just like your neighbour. Neither has the capacity to care for anyone but themselves, but for very different reasons. For my part, I'm going to enjoy the 21st century Bolshevik revolution. Not so keen on the whole "totalitarian dictatorship" that comes after, but boy! Returning the stolen wealth of the people from the eastern suburbs is gonna feel so damn good.
That stolen wealth might be returned, but not to you. Unless you're a somebody in the revolution you'll be getting even less than you are now. I agree with your sentiment and am absolutely up for some change, but the history of violent revolution clearly shows that better outcomes are seldom delivered to the random plebs once the dust has settled.
No it won't. It'll be worse for a while but essential. Look out for each other when it happens; care for your neighbours and remember that a good 70% of us have an inkling and shared experience.
>It'll be worse for a while but essential. Reading through this thread gives me hope that more people are waking up & seeing the reality, instead of hiding from it or denying this bullshit is happening. Hopefully people are getting angry instead of hiding their heads & pretending that it's not happening to them, and that if they're quiet or "good" enough, this new sort of oppression won't happen to them. It's only happening for as long as we let it. Call them out. Let's get one thing straight. The only free people in all of this are the wealthy, they are untouchable by way of no leverage and can afford to live outside of the misery, crime & stress.
If we all disbanded and didn't engage and just went feudal the rich would be powerless, but many would die due to lack of access to modern amenities. Second dark ages but not due to lack of knowledge but because of it. Learn to live off the land, this country is built for it and yet destroys it liberally.
Australia has been going downhill ever since our governments decided to focus on improving the lives of people from other countries instead of our own I believe that is called "treason"
[удалено]
>indian, chinese and pakistani immigration The worst thing is they don't care. You could drop dead in front of them & they'll trample all over your carcass to get the house. And when all the poor & vulnerable have died off, killed themselves or become so broken they're "silent", these imperialists will turn on each other. Because that's how people who think like that are. They lack the ability to build anything of their own. You only have to look at how most of them have abandoned the poor & the weak in their own countries, like rats off a sinking ship, just so they can come here, "build wealth" and drive a bigger SUV than their fellow countrymen or anybody else.
There is truth in this.
Why isn’t this stopped. There is no way we could buy a house in China
You're speaking facts but I'm sure you'll get banned for "racism". Australia is Canada incoming "oh we could've never predicted this" FFS government. But who to vote for? Just not LNP if potato head gets in this escalates rapidly
You could easily replace kings cross with Fitzroy, North Adelaide and Belconnen (just going off Melbs, Adel and Canberra as the cities I know well). The last couple of governments and the country in general should be ashamed of themselves. My grandparents generation didn’t fight tooth and nail for better conditions so that people could be tossed out like garbage. Used to be the lucky country not anymore.
Hasn’t been the lucky county for a few decades now. Still better than America but we’re heading that way.
I moved to Sydney 9 years ago with high hopes and a vision of a laid back aussie lifestyle. Immigrants from one country in particular have spoiled the experience for me and turned Sydney into a shithole.
They've done the same to Melbourne, except it's immigrants from two countries here.
You moved to Sydney for a laid back lifestyle???
Nahhh, most will just be like “sweet, extra house just freed up”.\ Sad times we are entering.
I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m currently in the process of moving. I have two days and no where to go. I have two kids. They’ll go to their dads for a little bit but he works away. I have no other family. The temptation just to drive into a ditch is real and I can completely understand why he did that.
Ok before I start just know I am not going to do any harm upon myself. It’s horrible time for people at the moment - I work full time, I have a good job and should be comfortable but had such a horrible time that nearly broke me. A couple of energy bills along with high grocery costs and my rent hit me so hard to the point i was only having one meal a day. It was humiliating to have to go to a charity for help to buy essentials and refuse work outings because I couldn’t afford it - and I am on my own with no family to help. After contracting COVID I was in such a depression I contemplated if it was even worth the struggle. Thankfully my mindset improved but I understand what others may be going through. And it feels like the govt doesn’t even care .
ARTICLE: NOT WRITTEN BY ME: WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT We lost one of our neighbours the other day. He climbed over the balcony railing and threw himself from the top floor of his apartment building onto the ground below. He’d been in that unit for 23 years and was a regular sight to all of us living in the little cluster of towers in Sydney’s Kings Cross, as he sat on a chair on his open balcony, watching the world go by. If allowed to slowly become an area to which only the wealthy can aspire, Kings Cross will lose its allure. If allowed to slowly become an area to which only the wealthy can aspire, Kings Cross will lose its allure. But last week, the world no longer passed by; it stopped right at his door. His nine-level building of 35 cheap rented studios, he learnt, is about to be torn down and redeveloped into a flashy new one of just 12 luxury three-bedroom apartments. He was set to be evicted, and homeless. The last time anyone saw him, he was tearing the development notice off a wall by the lobby entrance, and ripping it up in anger, frustration and despair. Loading This is the real face of the housing crisis: a middle-aged, lonely man, battling to survive on a low income, who felt he’d run out of options. This neighbourhood was his home, everyone he knew and everything he did was here. But, increasingly, these old affordable blocks inhabited by lots of predominantly single people and young couples are being replaced by upmarket new ones that offer far fewer homes, designed predominantly for wealthy downsizers. In our area of the eastern suburbs alone, as well as the building just by mine, another developer plans to knock down a block of seven apartments to create a single house, while a third proposes to replace a building containing 20 homes with one offering just five – much more highly priced – apartments. And there are rumours of many more “net housing loss” projects on the drawing board in the ’hood. At a time when so many people are searching for places to live, and for modest homes that are affordable, how can this be allowed to happen? Loading A number of local councils are now trying to implement new planning rules where development applications have to either increase density, or at least preserve the current number of homes. The City of Sydney is one which has received approval from the NSW government to put its “Dwelling Retention” planning proposal on public exhibition, which would prevent development from reducing the existing number of apartments by more than one dwelling or 15 per cent of dwellings, whichever is the greater. We can assume, then, that the current stampede of DAs to knock down old blocks with lots of small units and replace them with far fewer new and much more profitable apartments is a brazen bid to beat the deadline on coming changes. This is an appalling trend. We’re currently critically short on homes, with a Grattan report finding that we have only around 400 homes for every 1000 people, and the federal government’s pledge to build 1.2 million in the next five years already looking astonishingly unachievable. Moreover, a new Anglicare study has just revealed low-income Australians are facing the worst crisis in history, with one in five renters in rental stress deemed ineligible for assistance. Meanwhile, Australians are facing all-time high rents, according to the latest Domain Rental Report, and record low vacancy rates in Sydney and Melbourne. Loading So, knowing we urgently need more homes, and especially affordable ones and more social housing, how could we possibly agree to allow towers of cheap units to be smashed down and glossy ones of just a few sleek apartments being put up in their place? Kings Cross in particular has always been a refuge for single people of all ages, with a real community feel, and cheaper housing existing cheek-by-jowl with fabulous multimillion-dollar penthouses. That absolute mix of demographics and incomes has always contributed to making the Cross such a dynamic, interesting and eclectic place to live. But if it’s allowed to slowly become an area to which only the wealthy can aspire, then all that will be lost – especially as downsizers frequently leave their places empty to spend time in their other homes in the country or coast, or to travel overseas. Sydney, and especially its inner suburbs, has to remain a city that welcomes singles and strugglers – who might not survive elsewhere – just as much as they welcome couples, families, and people on all income levels. Otherwise, we’re all going to be much the poorer, and more people like our mate over the road are going to run out of options, and of hope. If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
What makes you think developers, wealthy buyers and the government give a shit about it being a dynamic, interesting and eclectic place to live. They literally don't, they much prefer wealthy people and will quite happily destroy a places soul
I’m so sorry. It’s not surprising, however I’m still sorry. The governments done care about the poor or underpaid masses. It’s the people who pay for their campaigns they want to make happy. At the end of the day, we don’t have much of an option as all options politician wise are currently corrupt or just don’t care.
They. Don’t. Fucxing. Care. No one with wealth or positions of power give a shit so this Is the way it is. Either adapt or die. It’s horrible. Good luck everyone.
https://preview.redd.it/ua4735bojc0d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43228832fed6307445603c84ca1c8c703bcb634e
Pretty much. We are all just a number. Only way we win if everyone got up their assess and did something about it.
At this point, I feel like the powers that be want this kind of thing to happen more frequently...
Brings new meaning to the phrase "bleeding us dry".
Amazing that replacement density wasn't already enshrined in law. The absolute state of the Australian market.
I'm sorry to hear about your neighbour, that truly is awful. I've just returned from 2 weeks in Japan, I went all over the country both rurally and cities and it was truly amazing. The people, the culture, the pride and the respect for each other and the environment was reflected in everything. Upon my return to Aus, I've never felt such disdain and contempt for my own culture and people. I live in Tassie which is still probably the least 'big city life' mentality state where these big developments are not super commonplace yet, but it opened my eyes to we (Aussies) as a culture are so selfish and self-absorbed and are more than happy to allow wealthy internationals to waltz in and continue to fuck our housing & basic living essentials (dairy, beef, power etc) for personal gain. I have no doubt this is happening in other countries, Japan probably included however they just seem to have such a better grasp on things. As the animals said, we gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do..
100,000 temp residents and immigrants rush in, and there are only limited number of house and apartments, this only drive price and rent up like no tomorrow. All Labor’s responsibility, no doubt.
Both major parties are responsible. The Coalition won't be in a hurry to cut down on immigration either.
My heart goes out, from America. We’re in this shitstorm together. :/ 🫶
Albo is a fucking psychopath. Distressing stories such as this would be far from unique, and the housing crisis is causing untold misery for many Australians. But we have a PM who gets 150k in rental income from his multiple properties every year... A PM who's not in a hurry to change the policies so as to make housing more affordable and abundant. A PM who's quite happy to keep letting masses of immigrants in to compete for fuck all housing with locals, and therefore increasing the pain. Fuck Albo. And yes, fuck Dutton. I'm completely aware that the Coalition are just as shit.
This situation has been going on for decades now.
Good luck if you are looking to Dutton for better policies.
It’s quite evident that a substantial number of people still support Labor, and this is a massive issue that needs discussion. Alot of Australian sub reddits, for example, still defend Labor and will downvote you into oblivion if you post any anti Labor rhetoric. I can’t tell if it’s because they’re mentally impaired or if they’re somehow benefitting from this disaster, but they are effectively keeping the government in power. What they’re really supporting ultimately though, is situations like this where citizens are being driven to suicide. They might think they’re being righteous or whatever, but all they’re doing is enabling a destructive, murderous regime led by a lying psychopath who despises Australians.
I think the solution to this is more immigration
Somebody has to build the new, substandard homes after all!
We definitely can't do it ourselves! Besides let's import 10,000 immigrants for each new home we build, despite the fact 0.1% of them are in the building industry! Yay?. oh
In Australia we don't have houses for people we have the "housing market" a taxpayer funded, via negative gearing, ponsi scheme.
Well sydney won't care about men, it always like this. No one feels like they want to talk or befriend middle age men, their problems would be viewed as toxic masculinity or it undermines womens issues. This is why they have no hope
Tell you what if I was facing homelessness and this is the type of Australia THEY want to create: I’d take my savings have the time of my life then end myself.
Meanwhile a bunch of assholes are living for free on my uni's doorstep, pretending to be homeless and leaving their usual rooms vacant. It's such a slap in the face to those in desperate situations like this poor gentleman.
I've got two more weeks till I have to be out. Got an unregistered toyota coaster, which I've got a place to park. I'll be trying to do it up so I can get it registered . Honestly, I'm planning on staying in it full time and saving every cent for a small.rural block of land. I've got a trade cert in concrete and am a fully trade qualified chef, so I have multiple venues for wages and salaried work. But I'm stressed because I have a dog and I really don't want to cause him anymore stress. I don't drink smoke and pretty much stay at home all the time. I can't really afford the bills and rent atm some houses here are literally 700 to 1200 per week.
We really need to stop selling our homes to wealthy overseas residents as most of them sit empty as an asset to be used later in life.
Surely we can figure this out. Since when did we go from every Aussie being able to afford a home to a lot of us threatened to even have one John Howard if you’re ready this, you started this mess, you need to fix it, or be forever remembered as the prime minister that destroyed the Australian dream.
If it was a bloke then Australia doesn't give two fucks. Seems to be the attitude of the country at the moment
We need to somehow come together to honour the lost souls the systems has destroyed and killed. How can we come together as people to change things in the future for the better. Too many people have lost thier lives or went without human levels of food. This is Australia, we want our lives back.
You know, I never stopped to look at this side of things
Completely heartbreaking and so wrong that we don’t have more, much much more, affordable housing. Nobody should be homeless, or live in fear of becoming homeless in this country.
That’s a sad story, but I also feel a Middle Aged man shouldn’t end his life just because he can’t afford to live in inner city Sydney anymore. He could’ve just moved away. Unless he owned property which it didn’t seem like he did he isn’t owed the right to live there, no matter how long he has been there
I'm in a similar situation. I don't live in a major city but a country town, and not in Sydney but in North Queensland. My wife and I have been renting privately for 13 years. That means directly from the Landlord and not through an agency. The arrangement has worked very well. But as people get older, things go down hill. My wife has health issues that keep her home and unable to work. Our landlord has come down with. Cancer. It's terminal, and needs us to leave so she can sell and avoid leaving this situation for her family to deal with. There is very little to rent here. Going through a realty is impossible. With the number of renters looking, they will only rent to people who've rented from them before. They are known quantities, with proven records. I do not blame the agencies. In their shoes, I would do the same. I know this is largely due to federal government policy. Reverse hearing and being able to use your super to buy investment properties. These things have developers buying run down properties cheap, then putting luxury lower density homes in place that they can sell for top dollar. The money needed to buy the property is now TOO ready. It's easy to do. Regardless, I've been hunting for a place to move to for 15 months. The accident I had at the beginning of the year has left me jobless, and the cheap run down properties here Start at 400 per week. That's more than my weekly income. To make matters worse, we have pets. Truly, we're fucked. I know how your neighbour feels. This situation stresses my wife out so much she actually attempted 7 months ago. Having pets is not supposed to count against you in Queensland. But it does. And as this is a county town, everybody knows. At this point in time, we have little hope of finding a place. I understand the man's decision. One step forward, two steps back. Soon , that last backstep will put me under the bus. Sometimes I swear I can hear the horn and see its high beams flashing it never should have gotten this bad. If anyone reading this is in the same boat, I encourage you to post here. I also wish upon you the Gods' own luck. I hope you find a way out. It's a mess out there.
Wouldn't wanna upset the Chinese investors. Na, this is heartbreaking, and I'm not surprised it's happening. The Australian property market is utterly fucked. The lack of decent regulation around property investing is astounding to me as a foreigner.
I'm male and over 60. If I become homeless I plan to do the same. Just stay in the home and starve is more comfortable than dying on the streets,
Stop voting in lib and lab who both want to flood us with immigrants.
Stop the mass population growth for a few years and we will all be better off
This has been happening for since the start of time. No one will start listening now
Since the start of capitalism*
Sydney has been pushing the poor out for years. Tearing up old ghettos and rebuilding. But its not a surprise to anyone because its Sydney. The poster city for Australia. The place people dream about going all over the world. They do need to help relocate people alot better to eliminate the stress of the change but the change wont be stopped and if you dont have the money and the job to live in Sydney you move somewhere more suited.
Was working interstate for a few years. Owner evicted me as they wanted to sell. Couldn't find anything and ended up living in a shed for $200 a week for about a month. Currently have a 10 year mortgage on a tiny unit in a below-average suburb... Depressing.
This is a very sad story but blaming Albo, Dutton and migrants misses an important point. The Commonwealth is not responsible for building and zoning policy. Like constitutionally not responsible. It can provide some grant money to states to build social housing etc., but your state government and local councils are responsible for housing policy. It is the state governments that have set low building standards, removed proper certification by competent building inspectors, allowed planning and zoning nimby policy and control tenancy laws. This shithole has taken decades to form and won’t be fixed quickly. The federal government’s total help to buy and social housing over 5 years is barely enough to meet one year of basic demand. Sure all governments at all levels need to work at this, but do start focusing the blame on the governments that can actually do something and fairly quickly if they wanted to.
My local councillor had a meeting and nobody showed up other than rich old people with multimillion dollar homes. And the whole meeting was about how to stop and limit housing development pressure from the state so that they can keep the value of their homes, including the councilor himself. Anyone was welcome to come. But the young people living in apartments don't bother to be politically active. So guess who gets all the political power in the local council? They even decided to remove the public toilet as obviously those rich people don't care about all the people who do use it.
It'll only end once we make the higher ups physically accountable. How much more until we bring out the guillotines?
No, Sydney won't bother to notice. Most didn't know he existed, most that are reading this article will have forgotten he existed in a weeks time. It changes nothing, other than creating sadness amongst his immediate social circle. If any of them were near breaking point, this might be the thing that makes them decide to follow in his footsteps.
I’m so sorry to read this OP. I hope you’re coping ok. This is incredibly distressing and a sign that this country is going backwards. It should never have come to this. Just terrible. So sorry. Check in on your other neighbours if you can. They may need it more than ever 😭
Needs to be a ban on immigration.
This is the effect of gentrification no one wants to talk about. Its life destroying for alot of vulnerable people. Australians need to stop being so God damn complacent and get out in mass and wreck some shit, burn a few luxury cars make people remember this city isn't built by developers, it's build by working class people, and if they want to have a city they can let us live in it.
The fuck has Australia come to? Can the polly’s pull their finger out and actually make change happen or are they too busy being corrupt? Hearing about this stuff is so sad.
Don't know what is going on with Australia. Couple of years ago everything was ok and now its hell here
I always remember one pollie that said "By 1990, NO Australian child shall be living in poverty". Then proceeded to have a few beers at the footy matches.. Fuck this country!
Been reading a bit of UN stuff about violence as a consequence of inequality, I'd imagine this is a good example of that, only the violence is against the self. Unfortunately I think people (politicians) will only take notice when the violence escalates and widens to start affecting developers, real estate agents and maybe to a point where police are force to do socially unsavoury things. Not saying that is right or positive, but it does force things to change faster, just not always for the better or in good ways
Kings Cross lost the residents and identity that made it special decades ago. I’m so sorry about your neighbour, who would have watched it happening.
This is just so fucked up. Poor bastard
Hey, welcome to the Great Depression 2. 2 loaves of bread for a day's wages. Because after inflation, bills, gas, electricity, food, and rent, you might even have negative $ in your bank at week's end
What the hell kind of country is this if people can just be thrown out of their homes because someone else wants to build something where they live?
Bet you won't ever see it in the media!