A HOUSING REALITY
The elephant in the room with unaffordable housing lies mainly with would be buyers themselves.
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How can a single person or a couple afford home ownership today when they spend themselves out of the equation?
If there was less spending, less lending, more saving, less construction waste and no negative gearing house prices would become more competitive.
Whileever home builders and homebuyers know there are huge home loans available, house prices will remain out of reach for many young home buyers and the sad bottom line is if they can’t buy ..…then foreign money will.
Brian Johnson, Gymea
A FAIR CRACK
It was reassuring to note the ability of coal miners of this region to adopt vaudevillian measures as a means of effectively highlighting the shortcomings of a mine management.
Without the “underpant uprising” at Appin Colliery as reported in the Illawarra Mercury (Wednesday April 12) whom, apart from the parties involved at South 32, would have known the company was reneging on an enterprise agreement?
Or, what a mean spirited and spiteful lot South 32 management must be in sacking the Appin Lodge president for “publicly exposing” the company by way of “The Appin Y-Front Revue”.
Clearly the men involved were conducting the performance on the surface and not underground.
Meanwhile they were responsibly wearing safety helmets, cap lamps, eye and ear protection, self-rescuers, high visibility gear and safety boots.
In truth they had more workplace attire on than was normally the situation with previous generations of Southern miners.
Another difference to what was the norm back in those times when compared to 2017 is: that any coal miner standing up for what was a justifiable cause back, then would have had the entire weight of the mining union at his back.
Barry Swan, Balgownie
A FREE MARKET
I really don't understand the way these two giants work. I mean they had the lion’s share of the market for years, more than I can remember.
Then along comes a small supermarket
Called Aldi.
They gave the public of Australia what they needed, lower prices and cheaper groceries.
But the other day we were in Coles looking for a meatloaf that you cooked in a tray. Very nice it was, but on asking the chap who worked there if he could find us one, his answer will astound you.
Sorry he said, we stopped making them as they were a good seller.
Now I for one will never understand that answer.
As for Woolies. There was the same reply. Now I don't know about you people out there, but neither of them will be getting our hard earned monies from now on. Beggars belief it does.
Lawrence Wren, Fairy Meadow
NOT THE SOLUTION
The Turnbull Government has announced that it will safeguard Australian jobs by abolishing the subclass 457 Visa for Foreign workers, and create a new temporary visa restricted to critical skill shortages.
While I personally support the tightening of Visa applications, I disagree that it will give Aussie workers more opportunity to find work as not all employers will oblige for In situ training.
With the continuous abolishment of Apprentice Training Centers, and most recently TAFE, how the hell can young Australian workers compete in the workforce with skilled migrants that have full qualifications?
Mick Chamberlain, Dapto