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Australia

Rental stress hits families in Toowoomba with $15 standing between home and homelessness

A woman with long brown hair and a navy hoodie stands in front of her brick home

Fifteen dollars might be spare change to some but, for those trying to contend with feeding a family and grappling with rising costs of living it is a rent rise few can afford.

According to a new survey from Data Finance Analytics Toowoomba, southern Queensland has one of the highest rates of mortgage and rent stress in the country.

The survey of 47,000 people across Australia found 61 per cent of renters were under rental stress, while in Toowoomba 57 per cent of the 240 respondents experienced rental stress.

Lyndal Hood is one of them. She and her husband’s rent has recently risen by $15 a week.

“Our rent went up from $230 to $245 when we got our new lease,” she said.

Ms Hood’s husband works in retail, and she worked in hospitality until forced to take a break after a heart attack late last year.

major sacrifice

Ms Hood said while it may seem like a small amount, it quickly added up.

“That extra $30 to [fortnight]that’s the price of my medications,” she said.

“That means no extra money left over, and it’s not like we’re bludgers.

“If it went up further, we’d have to leave because we can barely cope with what we’ve got.”

Welcome to Toowoomba sign surrounded by flowers
Toowoomba has been known as Australia’s Garden City since the 1940s.(ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

Ms Hood said she had no choice but to stay in her property and pay the extra amount.

“I feel like we’re just stuck,” she said.

“We look around town at what else is out there and it’s no better than this place. The house across the road is $360 a week and it’s a dive.”

Darling Downs and South West REIQ president Daniel Burrett said rent rises were generally the landlord’s reaction to increasing interest rates.

“Rents are continuing to go up,” he said.

“The average rent price in Toowoomba is in the early $400s. It used to be around the $330 to $340 mark.”

statewide surge

Statewide it is no secret that rent is also surging, particularly in high-growth areas.

According to the Everybody’s Home campaign that coincides with Homelessness Week this week, the average rent on the Gold Coast rose by over 15 per cent in the past three years.

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Kate Colvin said the data proved how many people were at risk of homelessness.

“We know that rental stress is the gateway to homelessness,” she said.

“When you combine surging rents with flat wages you put people in a financial vice and for the past three years that vice has been tightening.”

Ms Colvin said it would not just affect low to middle-income earners and was “a handbrake on the economy right through regional Australia”.

“You have situations where in tourism locations restaurants can’t open every day of the week because they can’t get the staff, or aged care services around the country where they simply can’t get the staff to operate at full capacity,” she said.

“A part of the reason for that is because people won’t move to an area to take up work if they can’t find a house or a property in the rental market.

“In terms of our economic health, particularly in regional Australia, housing is an important part of the picture.”

never been worse

Data Finance Analytics principal Martin Short said he had never seen it as bad.

“Unfortunately, both rental stress and mortgage stress seem to rise and the pressure on households is really stressful and growing,” he said.

“I’ve never seen it so high with almost half of households with a rent obligation finding it really difficult to service it.

“It’s the worst in the high-growth corridors, the areas of the country that have been on a lot of new developments.”

Lowset brick house with For Rent sign out front.
Housing advocate Everybody’s Home says surging rents with flat wages have put people in a “financial vice”.(ABC News: Lucy Robinson)

Rents rose by 12.1 per cent on the Sunshine Coast to an average of $641 per week and 9.4 per cent or $426.21 per week in Cairns.

Ms Colvin said the solution was in social housing.

“Obviously, building social housing would deliver rental properties, but rental properties that are targeted to low-income households who are the ones who are being most squeezed out of the rental market,” she said.

Ms Colvin said this would then free up rentals for people in other income brackets.

“So, it’s a really great solution that really fits the problem,” she said.

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Categories
Australia

Corporations’ profits soaring as inflation skyrockets and real wages fall, report reveals

Business generic

There are fresh calls for big business to rein in their big or “supernormal” profits in order to provide low wage earners some desperately needed household budget relief.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) wants businesses to share a large portion of their profits with their workforce.

The latest national accounts show Australian companies are taking a record share of company earnings in the form of profits.

The latest profit results from Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP show record half-year earnings.

Half-yearly profits for all companies together had almost doubled to $US55.2 billion ($79.6 billion), up from $US28.7 billion for the same period last year, the ACTU noted.

“These energy giants are posting staggering profits while fueling our cost-of-living crisis,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil says.

“Their shareholders are pocketing billions while working people are wondering how on Earth they can afford to fill up their car or heat their homes.

“The big oil and gas companies booked super windfall profits while Australian taxpayers have subsidized the bowser price of petroleum.

Vehicle at petrol bowser at Shell and Coles Xpress service station in Brisbane
The latest profit results from big energy corporations Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and BP show record half-year earnings.(ABC News: Lucas Hill )

“It’s time that big businesses do their part to address the cost-of-living crisis gripping Australians right now.

“If the bargaining system was working the way it is supposed to, workers’ standard of living wouldn’t be hit as hard by big increases in power, gas and petrol prices.”

Productivity first, according to businesses

Business groups argue that for real wages to lift, worker productivity needs to lift.

The Productivity Commission’s interim report confirms that the productivity growth that drives real wages is languishing at 60-year lows, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott says.

“This challenge is monumental because it is productivity that has overwhelmingly driven better living standards and higher wages for Australians since the Federation.

But labor market economists say there should be less focus on the trend in the rate of productivity growth and more attention given to the difference between wage growth and productivity.

Figures from the Center for Future Work, part of the progressive think tank The Australia Institute, show productivity growth has beaten wages growth for over a decade.

That should, in theory, mean a higher rate of pay growth for workers.

A line char shows productivity rising far above wages
Productivity growth has beaten wages growth for over a decade, data from the Center for Future Work shows.(Greg Jericho, ABS)

Impact Economics and Policy lead economist Angela Jackson says stubbornly low wage growth is a symptom of a broken industrial relations system.

She says the basic formula is that inflation plus productivity growth should equal wage growth.

“The system of wage determination and enterprise bargaining hasn’t factored in productivity gains for decades,” she says.

“It’s frustrating.”

The latest private-sector check on corporate profitability may only add to that frustration.

Double-digit rise in private infrastructure company profits

The big end of town, according to the latest gauge of corporate profitability, is swimming in cash.

Consulting firm Deloitte Access Economics has released its quarterly Investment Monitor.

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Categories
Australia

Cost of living pressures lead to food insecurity and fears of chronic health conditions

Cost of living pressures lead to food insecurity and fears of chronic health conditions

More Australians are now experiencing mild to moderate food insecurity due to the cost and unavailability of fruit and vegetables leading to ill health and pressures on charities, experts warn.

The skyrocketing cost of living has been particularly difficult for mum of three Jane Winters.

Her family of five, who live in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, have seen their weekly grocery bill more than double from between $100 and $150 to nearly $300.

“We are going standard, home brand, whatever we can just to try and save some money because it’s a bit ridiculous,” she said.

A grocery list that was once full of fresh produce and healthy ingredients has now been replaced with cheaper alternatives and processed food.

“Fast food is fast becoming cheaper than healthy food which is awful,” Ms Winter said.

“It’s going to become a really big problem and I think childhood obesity is going to get so much bigger because of that.”

‘Unable to send kids to school with lunch’

Melissa Peters works in an affordable food shop west of Brisbane known as Restore, run by a not-for-profit organization Ipswich Assist.

Melissa smiles with glasses on.
Melissa Peters says the number of shoppers in Ipswich Assist’s charity grocery store has tripled, some of whom are from middle class backgrounds.(ABC News: Baz Ruddick)

She said the charity has seen a marked increase in families, some on dual incomes, seeking help to feed their families.

“Prior to this increase in the cost of living, we were seeing around maybe 30 to 40 people come through each week and now we’re cracking upwards of 100 people, 100 families coming through each week,” Ms Peters said.

“People tell us that they’re no longer able to afford just basic groceries, fruit and veggies, they’re unable to send their kids to school with lunches because the cost of living is just getting higher and higher each week.”

Cans of baked beans at the Ipswich Assist Restore charity grocery store
Cans of baked beans at Ipswich Assist’s charity grocery store.(ABC News: Baz Ruddick)

The store receives food from OzHarvest and Foodbank, as well as donations from mainstream supermarkets, with all items sold for $1 each.

“We’re seeing more and more families come through that have never needed to seek assistance before because they’ve never experienced any sort of financial hardship or crisis in the past,” she said.

“It’s a sense of vulnerability that they don’t want to have to show to the world… [but] we often remind them that seeking assistance is not weak.”

‘A big domino effect’

With the rising cost of food, fuel and rent showing no sign of abating, Ms Peters said the situation was only expected to worsen.

“At what point does it end? At what point does something happen that stops it from affecting every day Aussies?” she said.

“If people dig themselves into debt and get more and more into financial crisis, they have to then rely on more and more places to provide assistance.

“And those assistance places don’t have enough funding and it just becomes this big domino effect on people not being able to support themselves.”

Pru smiles next to a rack of clothes.
Pru Burke’s second-hand clothing store now features a free community pantry.(ABC News: Baz Ruddick)

Redcliffe woman Pru Burke has also opened a free community pantry with stacks of free, donated pantry items destined for Queenslanders doing it tough.

“I see the mums every day come and tell me their stories and it is heartbreaking,” she said.

“It’s those small drops in the ocean that are going to save them a lot more money in the end.

“If you’ve got the ability, try doing something like this. Open a food pantry, talk to members of your community and find ways to help each other.”

Fears of rising obesity, chronic illness

Dr Ward sits in a hospital ward looking stern.
Food security expert Dr Aletha Ward says there is a clear link between nutrient deficient diets and chronic disease.

University of Southern Queensland food security expert Aletha Ward said Australia was now experiencing mild to moderate food insecurity due to a lack of fruit and vegetable consumption.

“The problem with mild to moderate food insecurity is that it drives obesity, so we are having food, it is just not the right type of food,” Dr Ward said.

“Most families would not purchase an iceberg lettuce for $10.”

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Categories
Australia

How the rising cost of living is squeezing budgets and changing lives across Australia

How the rising cost of living is squeezing budgets and changing lives across Australia

Tambikos Driss and his daughter Grace sleep all year round in the tropical heat of the Northern Territory, besides large industrial fans to save on power.

The single father now limits the days he uses the washing machine, and has stopped cooking food in the oven to keep the bills down.

“Last night I didn’t go to sleep, I sat up all night thinking, how am I going to manage this fortnight,” he said.

A man wearing a jumper stands over a kitchen sink and is washing a cup.
Tambikos is now cutting back on using his oven to save on power. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)

Soaring inflation is pushing the cost of living up across the country, with warnings prices will get worse before they get better.

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Categories
Business

Gas outlook ‘concerning’ with government urged to act to alleviate worsening ‘energy security risk’

Gas consumers set for gas hike despite tripling of production

The Federal government has been urged to consider intervening in the energy market, amid concerns of a gas shortage that could lead to higher prices, according to the latest report by the consumer watchdog.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released an interim report of its inquiry into gas supply along the east coast.

It noted that while Australia has “relatively abundant gas resources”, most of it is produced for export and substantial volumes were required for the domestic market next year to avoid a shortfall.

“The outlook for 2023 is very concerning and is likely to place further upward pressure on prices, which could result in some commercial and industrial users no longer being able to operate,” the report said.

“This is a significant deterioration in conditions relative to what we projected for 2022 at the same time last year and presents a real risk to Australia’s energy security.”

It has recommended that the government consider intervening in the market, by pulling what’s known as the “gas trigger” to ensure there is enough supply.

An aerial shot of the Gorgon gas project on the coast of Western Australia.
The Gorgon project in Western Australia has been supplying gas since 2017.(Chevron)

The ACCC has predicted a shortfall of 56PJ next year, which is equivalent to about 10 per cent of domestic demand, the largest projected supply shortfall since 2017.

“This represents a further [almost tenfold] deterioration in conditions relative to what was forecast for 2022 at an equivalent time last year,” the report said.

The ACCC has partly pointed the blame at liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters.

“LNG exporters are expected to contribute to the shortfall in 2023 by withdrawing 58 PJ more gas from the domestic market than they expect to supply into the market,” the report said.

The shortfall is expected to mainly affect New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, with less significant consequences for Queensland.

How to fix the problem

Domestic market graph for Australia showing usage between 2017 and 2023

To avoid the gas shortage, the ACCC has encouraged LNG exporters to act immediately to increase domestic supply and has recommended the government work with exporters to ensure they supply more into the domestic market.

“LNG producers will need to divert a significant proportion of their excess gas into the domestic market,” the report stated.

It has also recommended the federal government go further and initiate the first step of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM), more commonly known as the ‘gas trigger,’ and formally determine if 2023 will be a shortfall year.

The gas trigger is an emergency provision, which allows the Resources Minister to directly intervene in the gas market and impose export controls to ensure there are adequate supplies for use in Australia.

Chalmers gestures as he speaks to media.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the report highlights “alarming” elements of the east coast gas market.(ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

The government is yet to outline whether it will follow the recommendations but in a statement, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he was concerned by the findings.

“The ACCC’s latest gas inquiry report highlights some alarming features of the east coast gas market,” he said.

“The government takes these findings extremely seriously and will shortly respond to the ACCC’s recommendations.

“I urge gas producers to do the right thing by Australians.”

The ACCC said other measures that could also help with supply issues include sourcing additional gas from the Northern Territory and withdrawing gas from storage.

Long-term plans

The government has an agreement with LNG exporters that aims to ensure there is enough reasonably priced gas supplied to the domestic market, known as the Heads of Agreement.

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