Governments already know how to fix inequality

The level of inequality in Australia is a choice made by our governments.
According to a report from the Productivity Commission, inequality declined during the COVID crisis, when governments enacted good policy to help the most vulnerable. But after that? Back to choosing more inequality.
Executive Director Richard Denniss explains.
Get tickets for 'Unequal Australia: What went wrong and how we fix it' here: australiainstitute.org.au/eve...
Buy livestream access for Adelaide event here: events.humanitix.com/2024-wil...
Sign up to get our latest analysis sent to you via our fortnightly newsletter!
📧 theaus.in/newsletter
Help us make more videos like this by becoming a supporter:
❤️ theaus.in/donateYT

[@mr-iz8cx]

Well said. I'm looking forward to hearing pragmatic explanations of how our society can utilise our massive surplus of resources. There's plenty. It's hard to understand why our countries people are suffering. Especially when they try so hard and do the right thing. It's worth the fight.

[@34332juju]

Very true our two major parties....with their foriegn owned large corporations support these inequalities by employing large corporate Consultants to come into Australia force Australian employee lay offs even when experiencing massive million/billion dollars in profits eg. Telstra, cause price gougeing among retail companies therefore causing low income earners the pain of struggling with essentials, they force employees to except part time/casual work thereby forcing single people to depend on welfare inorder to survive and government both liberal and labour use these expensive consultant firms at tax payers expense to cause inequality.and they just blame it on cost of living, inflation or energy costs...shame on pollies... thanks Australian Pollies for causing inequality in Australia....thankyou ..

[@dodgygoose3054]

I'm disgusted with Labor deliberate choice to not up jobseeker & the like .

[@ozzybloke4830]

Let alone letting the change to workforce australia from jobactive take place making the system worse than it already was. Also Get rid of the need for a 5% unemployment to control Inflation while expecting people to jump through hoops or starve.

[@augustusomega4708]

where have you true Aussies been... on holiday? the bourgeois are eating this pie stand out

[@beesplaining1882]

So true. Both inequality and unaffordable housing are the results of government policies and not unfortunate circumstances like the government tells us.

[@powertrip1050]

I'm just astounded that it has taken this long for Australia to wake up and start talking about this.....talk about the archetypal boiling frog. But then, apathy in the Australian population has been recognised for a while, way back in this GenX's teenage years by Midnight Oil (Power and the Passion)...but anyway, let's see if there is some momentum here....I hope so....cos not enough people have been voting and advocating with me on this since that turd Howard came to power...let's hope we can fix this....

[@holobolo1661]

Yeah Howard sold us all out. Still collecting his pension from us all too.

[@ordan787]

Well said!

[@greasybrownie]

Covid era Australia was so bloody good 🤣

[@connorduke4619]

On the contrary it was a human rights abusing needless disaster.

[@greasybrownie]

@@connorduke4619 I'm in WA so i was mostly free to do what i want. It was good because everyone had cash and there were so many jobs available paying very well. Now it's shite

[@connorduke4619]

@@greasybrownie I am an economist and knew with a high degree of certainty that the sugar hit of the government increasing its debt by $800B to deal with a fairly moderate virus that mainly attacked the elderly, was pure madness. And in the medium run would lead to inflation and cutting back on essential infrastructure. The Covid days were an anomaly and wholly unsustainable in any way. Socialism always fails.

[@BTinHD]

I read the following article in 'The Age', dated 21st January 1989, ' The Fading Australian Dream: The battle to buy a home is fought on two fronts: soaring house prices...and rising interest rates'. Hmmm. Interesting. LOL.

[@GD-ev7lb]

How about government reduce GST on food, petrol and electricity. That would be a good start

[@connorduke4619]

They need the revenue to invest in unaffordable and reliable wind/solar farms against a completely imagined existential climate threat.

[@michaelrogers7463]

When the politicians profit from there mistakes . This is what has to change. Advanced Australia

[@jedics1]

Government is just another department of the corporate sector now so its one big happy rich family that isn't going to change unless the people do something major.....

[@davidwilkie9551]

If this is a fact, it's not government it's Cleptocracy for a vested interest.

[@holobolo1661]

Calling the COVID response "good govt policy" is a bit of a stretch - it had more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese. The only good parts about it were the bits they copied from Wayne Swan's GFC response measures. The rest of it was just LNP doing what they do best - moving tax dollars from public coffers into private profits.

[@gregbuckley1078]

Are you all listening to this man, listen again and let the truth sink in,

[@kenharris5390]

Generosity toward the lower classes historically has never been an important part of upper-class awareness. - Michael Parenti

[@tiddlypom2097]

Hey Richard, have you spoken to Gary Stevenson?

[@home8630]

Governments are people and are representative of those people. People are the ones that bring and live inequality. No we can never forget the liberal party abuse of the past and who was responsible for the crisis we are having now, even though they were warned, the wouldn't listen and they didn't care. But through covid the government stopped being stingey, but it also put us in huge debt to do that. It also did what was necessary, if people understood the immune system and what it requires to heal that, they would be less blaming the government for Covid choices.

[@weirdo1083]

I have lost faith in the labor party only us the people can make the change i am becoming more active.

[@tonybrisbane6396]

Just bumped into this YT clip. Why is inequality a problem for the government to solve? What about the role of families and communities and individual accountability. tbf this is a short clip. Kevin Rudd as a child was apparently homeless living in the family car for few nights. He went onto become Prime Minister. Bad stuff happens to all of us at different times. I care about the topic. And I will check out your website. I just hope it’s a balanced view. I’d like to help.

[@Timothy2963]

Richard you have the full suite of solutions but not the necessary political influence to stand up to and bring down the lobbyists who have created the inequality. Until you have a solution to that dissonance nothing will change. I and so many others support you but simply feel emasculated. Chipping away at the problem is too slow.

[@SOUTHAUSSIEGUY]

How about the Govt. stopping reckless fiscal policy so the reserve bank has no need to create currency out of thin air?

[@SOUTHAUSSIEGUY]

@@REZZA2020 Yes, exactly! 🤠

[@ceeemm1901]

Govt only appear to be in charge. The average govt politician makes about maybe $300,000. A global Corporate leader makes hmmm, $ 25 million plus perks and prostitutes (include politicians in that group) and always looking to make more....FACT- The boss always makes the most money. The boss tells everyone else what to do....do I need to point out the "Gina Rinehart in the room" here? (that's a metaphor, folks)

[@ashleypicot8412]

Ai will take our jobs within 10 years. UBI incoming

[@666dualsport]

if you want inequality remove any wording that identifies indigenous--remove all funding and treat them the same as the rest of us

[@SeekSomethingMore]

It's a choice made by people. People choose governments and democratic systems, and subvert them. Fix people, not governments.

[@shaun5552]

It all comes down to a society that has moved away from high value production, filling the gap with resource extraction, inflation and debt. That's a 100% guaranteed way to impoverish the population over time. The solution is, of course, obvious. Use the resources we've got for the benefit of the nation. So sell steel not iron ore, get back into manufacturing, and so on. In doing so shifting labour out of the low value services sector that creates minimal economic wealth. Politically there's no point apportioning blame given the Coalition started down this track in the 1960's, Labor cranked it up a notch in the 1970's and the predecessors of the Greens argued it was the way of the future in the 1980's. All are as guilty as it gets, they all sacrificed the future, but dwelling on that won't fix the problems. There's no quick fix unfortunately but to give credit where it's due, the present government does have a policy to encourage manufacturing. The key now is to focus on getting it done and not get distracted by other matters. It represents a turning point. Related to that is the education sector. Education per se we need but it's very clear at present that it's not producing the skills the nation requires. We've got far too many university graduates struggling to find employment meanwhile we're going to need a lot more trades and professionals in STEM and related fields, including medical, going forward. So we need education but it needs to shift, there's no point putting people through dead end degrees at public expense then having them unable to fill the labour shortages, education needs to align with society's requirements. Plus of course the practical things. Get on and build housing. Noting there the major shortfall is of freestanding houses with a backyard - apartments have a place but they alone cannot fill that gap, more houses are also needed urgently as is supporting infrastructure - roads, public transport, water, power, etc. Don't hold your breath though, politicians are notoriously short term thinkers and game players. No matter what any party in government does, the other parties will try and wreck it almost certainly.

[@jack12343]

The policy enacted to protect the most vulnerable is the reason that the most vulnerable are suffering today. Handing out cash to people above what they would normally earn and with no obligation to pay it back or work for it lead to rampant inflation and the cost of living crisis we now face. If you want to help people give them the sense of purpose and dignity that come from a job, don't just hand out cash.

[@marcoschena99]

You have to make your own equality. Not up to the government. Get educated, upskill, work more hours, do a great job, get a promotion, spend less than you earn. You will get there. Shouldn't be up to the tax payer all the time. Lets be positive and encourage society and not be so negative and focus on the social welfare. Australia is a great country with many opportunities.

[@jack12343]

Being born in Australia gives you a wealth of opportunity not afforded to the rest of the world. The choices of the individual will determine what they make of that opportunity. Taxpayer funded social welfare disproportionately funded by the most industrious, productive and valuable workers in society is a great way to disincentivise productivity and hard work.

[@REZZA2020]

"Taxpayer funded social welfare disproportionately funded by the most industrious, productive and valuable workers in society" Your tax bracket does not reflect 'the most industrious, productive and valuable workers in society'. Neither is your 'tax' funding social welfare programs. Your absurd statement is repulsive and reads like something out of a bad science fiction novel.

[@animalfarm7467]

You appear to be ignorant of Australia's lack of sovereignty. It doesn't matter how many times old Albo uses the word “sovereignty” while signing away 368 billion taxpayer dollars to the Military Industrial Complex for submarines useless in Australian waters, Australia is NOT a sovereign nation. Do I need to regurgitate the history of the CIA and Ambassador Marshall Green coup of the Whitlam government before you take notice? Australia's sovereignty has been sold to the highest bidder. Sold to the IMF when the Prime Minister signs loan agreements and now has to comply with what used to be called the "Washington Consensus" (e.g Deregulate, Privatize, Reduce Corporate Taxes, etc. you know how it goes). Australia's sovereignty has been sold to the World Bank when the Prime Minister agrees to comply with the requirements of the "International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes". Under the “Rules Based Order”, the ICSID has the global authority to litigate nations if they don't comply with its corporate investment regulations. For example, this authority gives corporations the power to sue nations if any legislation compromises corporate profits. And then there is the infiltration by foreign interests of the most critical of Australia's institutions - e.g. the military, academia, the legacy media, foreign funded think tanks, and the government itself. So, before you make a complete fool of yourself with this over-simplistic narrative, may I suggest you do a little research and find out how the world under empire actually works?

[@galahad6001]

Every one should be given equal rights ... But we will never be equal ...and neither should we.. communist failed remember

[@kingdomfor1]

Yes communism failed, but capitalism is also failing the young people of today, we now live in a crony capitalist system, that benefits the wealthy. The wealthy have employed lobbyists to get what they want , ordinary citizens don't have that luxury.

[@TheTruePhoenixAU]

Point us to the free democratic communist state... Oh wait that never existed... They were only ever authoritarian communist states. Also no one here is asking for full communism, but full crony capitalism is why we basically have the rich controlling everything now. Surely a little bit more socialism isn't going to make society collapse...

[@rickyelvis3215]

Pissweek