Editor’s Note: This was a guest post by Chris Shaw, with minor editorial adjustments for clarity and formatting.
Australia’s national peak body and advocate for homelessness released a scathing report this week on the dire state of housing and the number of people becoming homeless each month.
Rough sleeping surges as homelessness crisis worsens: New report
The extraordinary figure of 10,000 people per month becoming homeless was reported. To put that in context, I researched the homeless figures in California. Being an Australian, it was my immediate connection as their problems have been pretty much highlighted here.
The article, “California’s homeless population rose 5.8% in 2023, while U.S. rate surged 12%,“ states that between 2022 and 2023, an estimated increase of 10,000 people became homeless over a 1-year period.
One would think this would make national headlines in Australia when you consider that, as a country of just over 27 million, we are outpacing California in poverty by a 12 to 1 ratio, but it is “cricket” season down here right now.
My grandfather was a Federal Member of the Australian Labor Party who was expelled; he then formed the Democratic Labour Party (an anti-communist party). I have taken the time to write letters to my local council, state government, and federal government, to no avail.
You will find numerous articles online regarding the rental shortage, like 100 people applying for the same property, but for some reason, the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which won the 2022 election, keeps increasing the immigration numbers. It is impossible to find an exact number, but estimates are between 1.2 and 1.7 million in that short time.
The ALP was also elected due to a promise to fix the housing supply crisis. Online, you will find over 200,000 properties for sale Australia-wide, but they are so expensive that most people cannot afford them, hence 10,000 more homeless per month. Property prices are starting to drop and have even affected the Prime Minister Albanese.
Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, snagged a seaside mansion for $300,000 less than what the owners paid for it in 2021.
News.com.au reported:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has settled on his $4.3 million clifftop mansion a month after making headlines with the extravagant purchase on NSW’s Central Coast.
Mr Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon are listed as joint owners of the Copacabana property, with Commonwealth Bank holding the mortgage.
The decision to purchase the home in both names could have tax implications for the PM depending on how the mortgage is structured and whether the property will be rented out until Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon are ready to use it as their home.
Then, he had to drop the price of his Sydney investment property by $150,000 recently to sell it after kicking out his tenant.
Daily Mail reported:
The Prime Minister has had to drop the price of his Sydney investment townhouse by $150,000 after it spent months on the market without a buyer.
Anthony Albanese sold his Dulwich Hill investment property for $1.75 million on Friday.
The PM previously withdrew the house from its October auction where he had hoped to bring in $1.9 million before the initial asking price was revised.
And just to prove that the universe moves in mysterious ways, this story hidden in Australia but released in the UK states that the PM has had to drop the rental price on his new mansion from $1900 AUD ($1,200 USD) per week to $1500 ($955 USD).
And just to show how out of touch the leader of the most damaging party to ever lead this country is, he then approved a $100 million road upgrade to his new mansion.
Sky News reported:
More than $100 million in taxpayer funds will be spent to upgrade the main road which leads to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s new $4.3 million beach house.
In June this year, Mr Albanese held a press conference where he personally spoke about the upgrade to Avoca Drive on the Central Coast. It will be funded with $100 million in federal government money and $30 million in state funding.
Australia has always been a mostly happy-go-lucky place to live; unfortunately, for 10,000 people every month, that’s no longer the case.
