Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's a podcast called Who Screwed Millennials? I don't like using that sort of language in parliament, but I think the question is the right one. From 2004 to 2016, the wealth of over-65-year-old households grew around 50 per cent, while under-35s went nowhere. Young Australians are being cheated. HECS debt is rising with inflation and zooming ahead even when they're trying to pay it off. Rents are rising even higher. Energy bills have grown as well, but the landlord won't put on solar. While they are trying to scrape together a home deposit, they're paying a higher rate of tax than older Australians, who rely on super and investments. That's while older Australians are four times wealthier on average than younger households, which is up from 2.5 times wealthier in the 1990s. It will get worse as more and more of the tax burden falls on the young.

So who is cheating young Australians? I think across the parliament, in this and previous parliaments and at different levels of government, major parties have been pandering to older generations on easier tax breaks and generous handouts. But that's not what they want; older households want to see a better future for young Australians. They don't want to leave their kids and young kids behind. That's my top priority, and I think it should be yours.