“This is Not a Functional Society Anymore" By James Reed
Matt Barrie, the founder and CEO of Freelancer.com, has said that Australia is no longer a functional society because the "unhinged, uncontrolled mass immigration program," is set to end in "economic disaster." Around 2,000 migrants arrive in Australia every day, producing an accommodation crisis, with rentals, housing and commercial property markets skyrocketing to record-high levels. "It is completely and utterly out of control, the cost of housing increases the cost of rent, which increases the cost of rent for businesses," according to Barrie.
"That's adding a major input cost to everything and squeezing money out of Aussies and their businesses."
"This is not a functional society anymore."
The same point has been made at Macrobusiness.com.au many times, and I have been saying this for years now. It will continue until Australians take a stand against the sacred cow of the ruling elites, mass immigration.
There is more: https://medium.com/@matt_11659/put-another-aussie-on-the-barbie-f298c21b5bf9.
"One of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs blames immigration policies for the nation's economic woes.
Matt Barrie, the founder and CEO of Freelancer.com, told Daily Mail Australia that the 'unhinged, uncontrolled mass immigration program' is setting off a domino effect on the rest of the country which will only end in an 'economic disaster'.
An average of 2,000 people were welcomed to Australia every day during September, adding to the more than 500,000 who arrived last year.
While the Albanese Government announced a decrease in immigration levels in June, Mr Barrie said it still hasn't addressed the issue of housing supply.
The increase in demand without supply has forced rental, housing and commercial property markets to skyrocket to record-high levels.
'It is completely and utterly out of control, the cost of housing increases the cost of rent, which increases the cost of rent for businesses,' he said.
'That's adding a major input cost to everything and squeezing money out of Aussies and their businesses.
'This is not a functional society anymore.'
The businessman said that prices would become affordable if the Albanese Government closed the borders instead of continuing to supercharge demand.
'It is mathematically impossible for wages now to pay for houses in many locations, particularly Sydney, parts of Melbourne and even in regional areas,' he said.
'It takes 46 years to save for a house deposit in Sydney, probably closer to 50.
'A house in Woollahra (eastern Sydney) just went for $18million, you could buy a 2025-model 260 foot cruise ship for that.'
Increased rental costs have also forced essential workers such as paramedics, police officers and teachers away from their place of work, Mr Barrie said.
He believes the Reserve Bank of Australia is 'beholden' to keeping interest rates lower than other countries and maintaining the strength of the housing market.
'The RBA should have raised rates significantly higher than they have,' Mr Barrie said.
'But they know if they continue to raise rates it is going to potentially cause default correlation in the housing market.'
'The Great Australian Dream has become a Great Australian Scream,' Mr Barrie wrote in a story on Medium.
'No longer do Australians have a "fair go", an expression we used to use.
'An expression that encapsulated the idea that everyone should have equal opportunities and be treated fairly and reasonably.'
While keeping the market from crashing, not pushing the issue on interest rates also means inflation could continue to grow and affect all Aussies, Mr Barrie said.
He nicknamed the government's boldness against the inflation rush to 'project Zimbabwe', where hyperinflation halved the African country's currency value every day at its peak in 2008.
While Australians may be feeling the pinch now, Mr Barrie believes the economy is on a path to collapse without diversified industries.
'We used to produce cars, we had a manufacturing industry in the '80s,' he said.
'All we do now is trade fine houses like paintings.'
He said that the major banks 'don't do anything other than lend mortgages' and would cave under the weight if the market was to falter.
'If you look at every market in the world where you've had a property bubble, eventually what happens is you have inability for people to pay the mortgage,' Mr Barrie said.
'During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) you had American interest rates suddenly adjusted from three per cent to about eight. We're almost there right now.
'There's about $350billion worth of mortgages written during the Covid pandemic at an interest rate of about two per cent.
'People went crazy gorging themselves on large homes that they can not afford in a normal interest rate environment.
'Now banks want to offer 50-year mortgages and kick the can even further down the road.'
Mr Barrie added that it was ludicrous for Australia to be struggling economically given the natural resources, relatively small population and density.
'We have the same amount of coal and double the amount of uranium as Saudi Arabia yet our energy price is out of control,' he said.
'We can't talk about nuclear plants because it will affect renewable energy projects.
'We're far better off focusing on nuclear and doing more conventional forms of energy generation, but we have blown energy prices to the sky.
'We should be the richest country in the world per capita, but we've completely p***ed it up the wall.'
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