Retiree's $22,000 confession exposes major problem for millions of Aussies: 'Unattainable'

Having rich parents is “more important than ever” and could be the only way young Aussies can buy property these days. That’s the message from some Aussie politicians who were asked about intergenerational inequality by an older Aussie.

Speaking on ABC’s Q&A on Monday night, self-funded retiree Phillip Irvine agreed he had “won the lottery in life” with plenty of jobs and free tertiary education for him starting out. He shared he was able to buy his first property for $22,000 and “borrowed the lot” but said it was a completely difficult situation for his eight grandkids.

“We had a good start in life. I’ve managed to give my kids a pretty good start in life as far as getting houses and all the rest of it. For my grandchildren, house prices are unattainable,” Irvine said.

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He asked the panel - which included NDIS Minister Bill Shorten and Independent Senator Jacqui Lambi - how they planned to tackle the “structural issues” making Australia unfair for Aussies.

National home prices grew to a fresh peak in July, PropTrack data found, increasing 6.28 per cent over the past year. The average Sydney home is now north of $1.1 million, Melbourne is sitting at $803,000 and Brisbane even higher at $853,000.

Shorten argued there was a wealth gap at play and said there was no intergenerational inequality if you had rich parents.

“If you have rich parents, if they have a big superannuation account with million bucks and they’ve got a couple of investment properties, then you do not have an intergenerational gap,” he said.

“Having well-off parents has always been a sort of useful head start in life but I think it’s now more important than ever.”

Shorten said younger people were now “doing the heavy lifting in this economy” and experiencing slow real wages growth, a lack of housing supply and more expensive university fees.

“The way you deal with it is free TAFE, reduce student debt, start investment in longer-term jobs here in this country, make things here,” he said.

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‘Rich are getting richer’

Jacqui Lambie said there were both intergenerational and class wars at play. She hit out at the government for “wasting” money on $4 billion submarines while Aussies paid the price.

“The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” she said.

“You are paying more on your HECS debt than what we get from royalties and gas from the gas cartels are putting back … You are paying the price instead of people who should be paying the price.”

She argued there should be a temporary ban on foreigners buying Australian property so people can “catch up” and “have a roof over their head”.

She also argued people shouldn’t be paying for schooling and it didn’t matter whether or not people failed because it was all about “who mummy and daddy know”.

“Between your degree and trying to buy a house, if you are between 18 and 30 good luck to you,” Lambie said.

“My heart goes out to you because unless you’ve got rich parents, you’re never going to own a bloody house, let’s be honest.”

Other panel members included shadow finance minister Senator Jane Hume, economist Joseph Stiglitz, and Australian Financial Review editor-in-chief Michael Stutchberry.

Hume said “all levels of government” needed to work together to open up housing supply and ensure people had access to affordable housing and the ability to buy a house.

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