Latest news with #costOfLivingCrisis
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
No-nonsense Aussie exposes the huge problem with the country - and it's a reality check many of us need
An investor has vented his frustration at watching Australians being forced to put in more hours of work and neglect time with their families so they can stay afloat. Entrepreneur Adam Hudson said everyday life has become a constant hustle for millions of Aussies during the cost-of-living crisis. 'We've turned our houses into hotels, we've turned our cars into taxis and our bodies into porn - because we have to,' Mr Hudson told the Sonia and Simon Podcast. 'Everybody's running an Airbnb, everybody's driving Ubers.' Mr Hudson said Australians were listening to podcasts and trying to better themselves so they could make more money, at the expense of spending time with their children. The investor made the sensational claim that we've all been fed a 'lie' that inflation is necessary for a healthy economy. 'They don't realise it's because our money's broken,' Mr Hudson said. 'What would it be like if a house today was not going to be worth twice as much in 20 years? We could all breathe, we could all relax. Entrepreneur Adam Hudson said everyday life has become a constant hustle for millions of Aussies during the the cost-of-living crisis 'What if our carrots and apples stayed at the same price? We've been sold this lie that inflation is necessary. 'The Aussie dollar is becoming worth less and less.' Social media users agreed, saying they were being priced out of Australia. 'I see no way out in Australia, our kids won't be able to live in the future,' one woman said. 'We are being boiled alive, like frogs in a slow cooker,' another said. One man simply wrote: 'Australia is cooked.' While annual headline inflation in the March quarter eased to 2.4 per cent, services inflation is still high at 3.7 per cent, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows. The RBA recommends an inflation rate within a target band of two to three per cent on the belief it encourages sustainable economic growth while preserving purchasing power. But Mr Hudson questioned the need for ever-increasing prices. 'What it effectively means is that the buying power of our dollar becomes less and less with every single passing minute because they're putting more and more money into the system.' While inflation can be caused by printing more money, known as quantitative easing, post-Covid inflation in Australia is largely driven by external factors including supply chains and energy prices. The RBA is expected to lower the interest rate to 3.6 per cent on Tuesday, in a sign it believes inflation is under control since runaway Covid-era highs. Despite inflation returning to the RBA's target band and real wages outpacing inflation since late-2023, data suggests living costs have eaten away at the benefits for workers. Employee living costs increased at the same rate as the wage price index in the year to March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Put differently, workers paying off a mortgage or struggling with high rents effectively enjoyed no wage increase once living costs were accounted for. Comparison website Finder recently found 59 per cent of Australians are experiencing financial stress while 37 per cent have under $1000 in their savings accounts. Mr Hudson is one person in a wave of Aussie influencers who have packed up for a better, more affordable lifestyle overseas. He recently moved from the Gold Coast to Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. While rents, he said previously, were comparable in his adoptive city of Limassol, the overall cost of living was remarkably cheaper. 'As much as I love Australia, there's a certain point at which the price is too high and the treatment of citizens is just too messed up,' he wrote. 'For me, that threshold has been passed so rather than complain, I left, and when I did, I found that I am not alone, and Australia is not the only country that's lost its way.'
News.com.au
14-06-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
‘Too scared to sleep, she drives back to the suburb she grew up in', tells face of Catherine House
By her own admission, Adelaide's Jaylee Cooper ought to have been shocked when a woman quietly disclosed how she spends her nights terrified, sleeping in her car at suburban Prospect – she wasn't. Sadly, the manager of philanthropy and engagement at women's homelessness and recovery service, Catherine House, knows only too well the grim circumstances facing so many in 2025. 'You know, she told me each night she was absolutely scared and frightened to be sleeping in her car but that she would go back to the suburb she grew up in as she felt a level of safety in a place that was familiar to her,' Ms Cooper said. 'Now, most people that live in (inner, leafy) suburbs such as Prospect probably wouldn't ever think they would see a woman experiencing homelessness in their car in their neighbourhood. 'The reality is there are many, many women who are now experiencing homelessness and sleeping in cars on streets all over Adelaide … and it's likely we will start to see it more as the cost-of-living crisis and lack of affordable housing is hitting hard.' Ms Cooper, speaking ahead of the launch of the annual The Advertiser Foundation Blanket Appeal, says 'more and more' women are reaching out for help. 'The reality is that (our intake service) line just continues to be called all day, every day by women seeking support,' she said, adding it doesn't account for those hesitant to call. 'In the past 12 months we've seen a 36 per cent increase in the number of women contacting us for support which is significant … at any given time we've between 35 and 55 women on our waitlist. 'For many of the women who do reach out, they will have exhausted every avenue before doing so … it's difficult to ask for help … there's such shame that we feel.' Almost 50 per cent of the women who make contact are aged between 35 and 54 with almost all of those escaping family and domestic violence and many more recently separated from their spouse. Almost 40 per cent of women are aged between 18 and 34 with just over 10 per cent aged 55 and older. 'We often refer to it as being like the domino effect, it can be just that one thing that potentially starts (the downward spiral into homelessness) … an illness, a marriage breakdown or a redundancy,' Ms Cooper said. 'It might be they lose their employment and then can't pay their rent so they lose their tenancy … for many women often the next step is to see if they can stay with friends or family and that's where couch-surfing comes into play and then it's often going into cars. 'We hear from women who say, 'my landlord's just been in contact, they need to sell their property' … we know affordable rental availability is a real issue; certainly, our clients are not in the financial position to go out and pay market rent and that is a real challenge. 'It's the cost of groceries, the cost of electricity, gas and petrol … all of those things are contributing to people just not having the money they previously would have had.' The fact women are typically more likely to be part of the casualised workforce – working in casual and part-times across sectors such as retail, early childhood, healthcare and hospitality – can make them more vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures. 'We are certainly seeing more women who are employed… they will leave our crisis accommodation service and go off to work – most of their employers probably wouldn't have any clue,' Ms Cooper said. '(Homelessness) really can happen to anyone and we want women to know there is a place called Catherine House in South Australia that they can come to, should they need our support.'
The Independent
08-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Swinney – Reform voters in Hamilton by-election ‘angry', not racist
John Swinney has said Scots who voted for Reform in a by-election last week were 'angry', not racist. The First Minister was asked on the BBC Scotland's Sunday Show if those who backed Reform were 'gullible' or 'racist' – a term the SNP leader has previously used to describe the party. Mr Swinney said the 7,088 people who backed Reform – more than a quarter of the vote – in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse ballot were 'neither', but were instead 'angry at the cost-of-living crisis'. He added: 'I think that's what motivates the Reform vote. People have got poorer because of one central thing – Brexit, and the author of that is (Reform UK leader Nigel) Farage. 'I'm standing up to Farage. I'm going to make no apology for it.' He said the SNP is 'in the process of recovery' and he had come into office as First Minister a year ago 'inheriting some significant difficulties' within the party, and that it needs to get stronger before the Holyrood election in 2026. He said voters are 'having to work hard for less' and are concerned about public services, particularly the NHS. Mr Swinney was asked about comments he made prior to the vote saying 'Labour were not at the races' and claiming it was a 'two-horse race' between the SNP and Reform. Labour's Davy Russell gained the seat from the SNP with 8,559 votes, while SNP candidate Katy Loudon came second on 7,957, ahead of Reform's Ross Lambie. The First Minister said that since the general election campaign last year, people he has met have pledged never to vote Labour due to the winter fuel allowance being cut, while Reform's support increased. Mr Swinney said: 'People were telling us on the doorsteps, they were giving us reasons why they weren't supporting Labour. We could also see that Farage's support was rising dramatically and that's happening across the United Kingdom, it's not unique to Hamilton. 'I positioned the SNP to be strong enough to stop Farage, and that's what we were determined to do.' Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has branded the SNP's campaign 'dishonest and disgraceful' and said it had put the spotlight on Reform. Those comments were put to the First Minister, who said he had previously been allies with Mr Sarwar in a campaign to 'stand up to far-right thinking'. Mr Swinney said: 'That was months ago and then we found ourselves in the aftermath of the UK local authority elections, the English local authority elections where Farage surged to a leading position and won a by-election south of the border. 'So the dynamic of our politics change in front of us. 'I've been standing up to Farage for months, I've been warning about the dangers of Farage for months, and they crystallised in the rise of Farage during the Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall by-election.'
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Swinney – Reform voters in Hamilton by-election ‘angry', not racist
John Swinney has said Scots who voted for Reform in a by-election last week were 'angry', not racist. The First Minister was asked on the BBC Scotland's Sunday Show if those who backed Reform were 'gullible' or 'racist' – a term the SNP leader has previously used to describe the party. Mr Swinney said the 7,088 people who backed Reform – more than a quarter of the vote – in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse ballot were 'neither', but were instead 'angry at the cost-of-living crisis'. He added: 'I think that's what motivates the Reform vote. People have got poorer because of one central thing – Brexit, and the author of that is (Reform UK leader Nigel) Farage. 'I'm standing up to Farage. I'm going to make no apology for it.' He said the SNP is 'in the process of recovery' and he had come into office as First Minister a year ago 'inheriting some significant difficulties' within the party, and that it needs to get stronger before the Holyrood election in 2026. He said voters are 'having to work hard for less' and are concerned about public services, particularly the NHS. Mr Swinney was asked about comments he made prior to the vote saying 'Labour were not at the races' and claiming it was a 'two-horse race' between the SNP and Reform. Labour's Davy Russell gained the seat from the SNP with 8,559 votes, while SNP candidate Katy Loudon came second on 7,957, ahead of Reform's Ross Lambie. The First Minister said that since the general election campaign last year, people he has met have pledged never to vote Labour due to the winter fuel allowance being cut, while Reform's support increased. Mr Swinney said: 'People were telling us on the doorsteps, they were giving us reasons why they weren't supporting Labour. We could also see that Farage's support was rising dramatically and that's happening across the United Kingdom, it's not unique to Hamilton. 'I positioned the SNP to be strong enough to stop Farage, and that's what we were determined to do.' Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has branded the SNP's campaign 'dishonest and disgraceful' and said it had put the spotlight on Reform. Those comments were put to the First Minister, who said he had previously been allies with Mr Sarwar in a campaign to 'stand up to far-right thinking'. Mr Swinney said: 'That was months ago and then we found ourselves in the aftermath of the UK local authority elections, the English local authority elections where Farage surged to a leading position and won a by-election south of the border. 'So the dynamic of our politics change in front of us. 'I've been standing up to Farage for months, I've been warning about the dangers of Farage for months, and they crystallised in the rise of Farage during the Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall by-election.'
Daily Mail
08-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
I moved to regional Australia because I thought it would be easier than living in a big city... but here's why it's not working out
A young woman struggling with the cost-of-living crisis has revealed how moving to the country for a cheaper lifestyle has backfired as there are no jobs available. Larissa, 28, said her conception of a hardworking but comfortable life had been shattered by the current economic conditions. She said in a TikTok video life was tough for those in their 20s and 30s and she often wondered 'what is the point?' She said many young Australians had been sold the idea they could go to university, get a degree and get a good job before being set for life. 'And that job is meant to pay for a house and maybe a holiday once a year, and maybe you'd have some kids,' she said. 'And that's like not happening now and you're kind of just like, what's the actual point of anything?' Larissa said she thought, by her age, she might have 'a three-bedroom house' and be 'thinking about kids and maybe be successful' in her career. The disgruntled Aussie was interrupted by a sound in the background of the video, saying it came from her landlord's grandchildren because she lived in a 'tiny studio'. 'And no, I don't live in Melbourne or Sydney. I moved regional to try and save money and there's no jobs out here,' she clarified. 'Anyway, it's kind of just made me reassess my whole life. Like what am I doing? Should I just go travelling? 'I'm the type of person to plan everything but I'm just kind of feeling like f*** it. Do I just do what makes me happy?' More than 3,000 social media users weighed in, many saying they felt similar impulses. 'We have a doctor and lawyer in the family and they can't afford houses in Sydney where they work,' one commiserated. '(I'm) in my 30's, I'm the highest paid person in my extended family, minimal debt, in secure employment and it's miserable,' another said. 'I still cant buy a house – local or regional – so we're using money to travel and see the world.' 'That's exactly where we are at. We are miserable in Australia at the moment,' a third wrote. 'I'm 27 with a degree and living in a studio too, working full time and just spent my Sunday morning on Seek applying for weekend work,' one woman agreed. 'Median wage is $75,000 average rent is over $700 a week. The country is cooked,' another added, quoting Sydney unit rental averages. Another added simply, 'Australia is broken'. 'It's a mince meat, cask wine future,' another joked. Others, however, offered some harsher advice. 'I'm mid 40s. I felt like that in my 20s. It's called being in your 20s,' one wrote. ''Should I just go travelling?' There's your problem,' another said. 'If you are 28 and you don't have at least 80k in your bank account to use as a deposit and or a career that will enable you to get a loan of $650k then it's your fault you are where you are now at 28.'
