Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to bring to the attention of the House the growing problem of intergenerational inequality. Increasingly, young Australians cannot afford to buy their own home, they cannot afford to go to university and they cannot find jobs. I was lucky enough to have benefitted from the Whitlam Labor government's education policies. Today the average university degree costs well over $50,000. Most of us bought our first homes when houses cost around $70,000. When my wife, Annie, and I bought our first house, it cost less than $50,000. Today the Tasmanian median price is over $270,000. Obviously, the median price Australia-wide is higher in areas with high growth and younger populations.

This government has made the lives of young Australians harder. In 2014, the government tried to hike the price of a university degree to $100,000 or more, which, thankfully, the Senate rejected. However, that risk is still with us with cuts to the funding of our university sector. The government has continued to argue for raising the retirement age from 65 to 70. This may hamper the employment of young Australians. Youth unemployment in my state exceeds 15 per cent. Forcing older Australians to stay in the workforce even longer will affect job opportunities for younger Australians. I call on the government to stop persecuting both the old and young of Australia and to instead invest in them. The young are our future. We cannot afford to send mixed messages about the importance of investing in education.