Greg Jericho

2 weeks ago | australiainstitute.org.au | Greg Jericho

35 years after the HECS/HELP system began, university students now pay much more for much less. Getting a university education in Australia has gone from being a modest expense to something that is now much more costly than was envisioned when HECS was introduced in 1989. Fees for degrees such as Law and Society and Culture are over 700% higher than they were in 1990 – far more expensive than if fees had risen with inflation.

2 weeks ago | australiainstitute.org.au | Greg Jericho

For most people in Sydney – if you had started saving for a house a decade ago, you would be further away from your goal. In 2015 Joe Hockey told people that if they wanted to own a house the first thing they needed to do was “get a good job that pays good money“. New research by The Australia Institute has shown just how out of touch that statement was then, and how even worse it remains now.

2 weeks ago | australiainstitute.org.au | Greg Jericho

Migration is not to blame for house prices rising. And neither are Australia’s borders out of control. Immigration has been an issue at this year’s election. The Coalition is linking it to house prices with opposition leader Mr Dutton saying: “We’re going to cut immigration because Labor’s brought in a million people over two years and that has created the housing crisis”. Last night in the final leaders’ debate Peter Dutton doubled down saying:“This government hasn’t had control of our borders.

3 weeks ago | australiainstitute.org.au | Greg Jericho

The amount committed by both political parties to preventing domestic and family violence suggests they believe there are other, more important, priorities Election campaigns are when political parties tell us their priorities – they will structure their campaigns around certain themes, all designed to show voters that they are listening and they care. But these priorities are often limited by notional and often arbitrary lines about what can be afforded to be done.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Greg Jericho

On Anzac Day I like to post on social media a list of birthdates in the national service lotteries from 1965 t0 1972. I do it because the March 1966 ballot, which was for men born between January and June 1946, includes my dad’s birthday. He was picked and he fought in Vietnam, arriving just before the Tet Offensive in 1968. Not only is my dad’s birth date in that March 1966 ballot; so is mine. And that chills me.