The one group of Australians cruising through the cost of living crisis - and how they are driving up inflation for the rest of us

The idea that the elderly are financially privileged is nuts. They are often in worse health so usually have big health-related costs that more than cancel out savings in other areas.

Baby boomers appear to be cruising through the cost of living crisis - and risk pushing up interest rates as they continue to spend.

The older generation that lived through 18 per cent interest rates in 1989 are now the ones suffering the least from the Reserve Bank's 13 interest rate rises in 18 months.

The most aggressive rate hikes in a generation are disproportionately hurting the young and sparing the old, with the cash rate now at a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.

Grattan Institute economist Brendan Coates said baby boomers, who are more likely to own their own home, were the ones adding to inflation with their spending.

'The fact that we've got so many cashed-up, older Australians at the moment that aren't really being affected by higher interest rates, means it's taking bigger interest rate hikes to get inflation under control,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'That is true. They're not being squeezed at both ends.'

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday showed employee living costs surged by 6.5 per cent in the year to March, as they battled surging mortgage costs. But those on the age pension saw their living costs rise by just 3.3 per cent, compared with 3.4 per cent of self-funded retirees

But those on the age pension saw their living costs rise by just 3.3 per cent, compared with 3.4 per cent of self-funded retirees.

Both measures for retirees, who are more likely to have already paid off their house, were below the 3.6 per cent headline inflation rate.

'Older Australians, they've typically paid off their home and therefore the increase in living costs is much smaller because they're not being hit by higher interest rates,' Mr Coates said.

Baby boomers made up 21.5 per cent of Australia's population in the last Census in 2021, outnumbering Generation X on 19.3 per cent, Generation Z on 18.2 per cent but tying with Millennials on 21.5 per cent.

Having paid off their home this group, born between 1946 and 1964, are the ones who benefit when the RBA cash rate increases, especially if they have their savings in a term deposit account.

'It is fair to say many older people win when interest rates rise and younger people tend to lose,' Mr Coates said.

'Those that are less affected by mortgage costs, like the baby boomers, are the ones continuing to spend in the economy.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/money/article-13369719/Australians-cruising-cost-living-crisis-driving-inflation-up.html

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The spare-bedroom solution to the housing crisis

Good idea

Homeowners should be allowed to rent out their spare rooms or granny flats without facing a tax penalty, independent MP Allegra Spender says, as a new report shows Australia’s housing crisis will worsen in coming years.

Spender said there was a short-term opportunity here for the government to help ease the rental crisis.

“[It’s] actually pretty simple, and it’s something that we should at least consider or look at [in the] short term,” she said. “How do we unlock those spare bedrooms?”

Spender said there were plenty of older people with spare bedrooms or a granny flat, but renting them out would mean losing the capital gains tax discount on the rented portion of their home, which could have huge financial implications for people approaching retirement.

“The potential impact on you financially is enormous,” she said.

Spender wants the government to remove that capital gains tax implication, at least in the short term, so people could rent out their spare rooms without facing a tax penalty to help free up more housing solutions for renters. It’s a solution that would also not cost the federal government much money.

“I’m in a community of 45 per cent renters. It’s a really hard moment out there for that community,” she said.

“If we can bring some more supply on … even just for the next two, three years, while we’re trying to sort out the supply, I think that could make a real difference.”

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-spare-bedroom-solution-to-the-housing-crisis-20240502-p5fofi.html

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Waleed Aly's bold claim about male violence against women that he's been waiting to say for more than a DECADE

Waleed Aly has questioned the widespread belief held by politicians and activists that male violence against women stems from disrespect - instead suggesting the desire to hurt women actually comes from attackers feeling shamed and humiliated.

The Project host addressed the domestic violence crisis in Australia in an op-ed following shocking statistics that show a woman is being killed every four days.

Aly, who is also a lecturer in politics at Monash University, said he'd put off writing the piece for nearly a decade.

He referenced words from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who in 2015 said: 'Disrespecting women does not always result in violence against women. But all violence against women begins with disrespecting women.'

Aly said that he always thought Mr Turnbull's comment was incorrect, but had never said anything publicly - until now.

'I couldn't repress a simple thought when I heard Turnbull's comment: I just don't think that's correct,' Aly wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald.

'That's because my academic work was studying the roots of violence, where research overwhelmingly identifies factors like humiliation, shame and guilt as motivating drivers, not a lack of respect.'

Aly said research showed perpetrators of violent crimes had often felt they had been disrespected themselves.

He referenced American prison psychiatrist James Gilligan who said he was yet to see a violent act that 'was not provoked by the experience of feeling shamed or humiliated, disrespected and ridiculed'.

Mr Gilligan claimed the most dangerous men 'are those who are afraid they are wimps'.

The issue of domestic violence in Australia has been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks after 28 women were allegedly killed this year alone.

Men are being urged to start having conversations with each other about domestic violence, and in Aly's words 'for the "good" men to set the "bad" men straight'.

'This delivers a conventional wisdom that this is ultimately a men's problem, and one that every one of us has to own and solve,' he said.

He said it 'makes little sense' to treat every man as violent, when a minority is to blame.

Aly added that associating all men with violence could lead them to 'retreat and defend an identity they feel is unfairly maligned'.

But he said there was still hope for Australia's domestic violence problem.

He said tackling the minority responsible for violence by addressing their risk factors, as opposed to looking at all men in general, was the way forward.

'It accepts the enormity of the task, but doesn’t drown in it. It makes the invincible intelligible. It is fierce, but restrained. In sum, it deserves the next decade of respect,' he said.

Aly also noted that tasking 'all men' with solving the domestic violence epidemic was no different to 'being told it was up to Muslims to own the problem of terrorism' - an attitude that 'didn't work' and only resulted in Muslims feeling 'alienated'.

His comments come a day after the funeral of Molly Ticehurst, 28, who was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Billings.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13377481/waleed-aly-domestic-violence-crisis-Australia.html

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Game meat company to begin hunting deer in SA forests amid criticism of aerial culling

Sounds overdueto me

A game meat company will begin hunting deer in South Australian forests this month, which the owner says is more environmentally friendly and less cruel than the state government's preferred culling method.

Macro Meats Australia's contract with forestry companies to work towards eradicating deer in their plantations is also a rebuke to recreational hunters, who would prefer for some deer to remain so they can continue their enjoying sport.

The company is based in Adelaide and mostly focuses on exporting kangaroo meat.

Managing director Ray Borda has been critical of the state government's aerial deer culling program, which involves the use of shotguns to kill deer from helicopters and leaves the carcasses to rot on the ground.

Forestry companies want the deer eradicated because of the damage they to do trees.

Mr Borda said professionals shooting deer for meat was the best solution, because the meat could be sold for a profit rather than attracting scavengers or emitting methane when it rotted.

"Environmentally, and even animal welfare-wise, the professional industry is always looked upon as the best and cheapest way to handle these overabundant animals," Mr Borda said.

The hunters employed by Macro Meats will be in the South East next week to plan for the cull.

Professional deer hunters aim to shoot deer in the head to prevent damaging the meat in the animal's body.

Mr Borda, who is also the chair of the Australia Wild Game Industry Council, says this is better than aerial culling, when most deer die after being shot in the heart or lungs.

"The poor old deer — it's not their fault that there's too many of them," he said.

"So what we try to do is, we try to do it humanely, and then we're creating jobs."

Limestone Coast Landscape Board general manager Steve Bourne said aerial culling was an "effective and efficient means of removing large numbers of feral deer from the landscape in a humane way".

"Meat harvesting is a tool we have used — 2,100 feral deer have been processed for human consumption in the last three years," he said.

"In closed canopy pine forests, ground shooting can be a more effective means of removing feral deer."

The RSPCA has raised concerns that shooters targeting feral deer from helicopters using shotguns may not be able to tell whether the animals they shoot are dead or not.

But a Flinders University study found all the deer that researchers cut open after an aerial cull had been fatally shot in the lungs or heart.

A CSIRO study found aerial culling was extremely effective at controlling deer populations compared with ground shooting, with up to 94 animals killed per hour during aerial culling.

The SA government plans to eradicate all feral deer in the state by 2032, mostly through aerial culling, but also shooting on the ground.

It estimates there are about 40,000 feral deer in South Australia, mostly in the state's south-east, but also on the Fleurieu Peninsula and in the Adelaide Hills.

Deer compete with native wildlife and livestock for grass.

They damage trees and contribute to erosion and road crashes.

The government estimated farm productivity losses of $36 million last year, which would rise to $242m by 2031 if the deer population was not controlled.

Amateur hunters, many of whom travel to SA from Victoria, say they contribute to SA's economy.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-01/macro-meats-to-begin-hunting-deer-in-forests/103786220

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http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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