He did it! We didn’t think it was possible friends, but here we are. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has outdone himself yet again in his bid to prove how out of touch he is, this time telling renters to just buy a house if they can’t afford soaring rent prices.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg dropped the new federal budget on Tuesday evening and it’s a real doozy. You can read our breakdown here, but a key point is that the government’s first-home buyer scheme would double to have 50,000 places.
Banks typically ask for a 20 per cent deposit, but the government has also offered to cover 15 per cent of that. Which is actually pretty good, but still a lot of money considering the median price of a house in Sydney is $1,601,467. A 5 per cent deposit for that price is more than $80,000.
Today Show host Ally Langdon pointed out the obvious on Wednesday morning: despite this budget being the “cost of living” budget, there’s nothing to help people afford sky-rocketing rental costs. Not everyone can buy a house! And especially not those of us who live pay cheque to pay cheque because rent eats most of our income.
People who earn up to $126,000 per year will get $420 back in their tax, while people who rely on government payments will only get $250. Because the more you earn, the more government support you need? #Budget2022 #auspol
— Tammy (@TammyWolffs) March 29, 2022
Except, according to Scott Morrison, buying a house *is* the answer to not being able to afford rent. The cognitive dissonance is outstanding.
“[The] best way to support people who are renting a house is to help them buy a house. And over the last three years, we’ve got over 300,000 Australians directly in their own home, and particularly single mums,” he responded.
“I’m not talking about homeownership here. I’m talking about rental relief,” Langford persisted, bless her soul.
But of course, Scott Morrison completely avoided a proper answer and doubled down on a take we didn’t ask for.
“People who are buying houses are renters,” he said.
“Ensuring that more renters can buy their own home and get the security of homeownership — this is one of the key focuses of this budget and was one of the key pledges I’ve delivered on since the last election.”
Right. Because it makes total sense to tell people who can’t keep up with their weekly rent to buy a house. With what fkn money, Scott Morrison? If someone can’t pay $600 a week in rent, what makes you think they can afford an $80,000 deposit?
First, a scene setting reminder: the Govt was trying to say two quite different things at once. First that the economy is so strong and the recovery complete so support no longer needed. Second that cost of living is hitting hard so… some support needed.
— Tom Crowley (@TomisCrowley) March 29, 2022
A colleague of mine called the Federal Government’s budget “economic gaslighting” and truer words have never been spoken. How else can you describe our Prime Minister’s insistence that home ownership is the answer to our rental crisis, when people can’t even afford petrol.
Our leaders, everyone.
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