DEAR News Of The Area,

MALCOLM Fraser once famously said life wasn’t meant to be easy.

He was wrong, since then for the main, apart from a few hiccups, it has been far too easy.

Like a mob of cows, in a good paddock they put on weight.

The average Aussie since that statement has also put on weight.

We have become complacent, expecting a lift up on every stumble and getting it.

Dining out, new car, holidays and so many things once regarded as a rarity or luxury is now expected
as an entitlement.

Remember our older generation’s working class?

With Dad out there bending his back Mum at home doing it just as hard, rearing the kids and doing all the house chores on one meagre income.

But they saved, never wasted a crumb, and for the majority, owned their house before retiring on the pension.

Those who today are on the pension and renting are in a desperate situation.

Conservative, self-funded people relying on bank term deposits are also doing it tough.

Turning the coin, house owners, due to free money, have seen their houses, even in little old Bellingen, increase by at least $400,000 in two years.

Tax free wealth creation.

There is little appreciation for that older generation referred to above, for what so many today take for granted.

But I see dark clouds on the horizon.

All that cheap money, with so many rushing into unsustainable debt.

The average mortgage is near $700,000.

The housing market is holding the country to ransom.

Touching on the upcoming election, if as predicted, we get a Labor/Green government, that might be just what we deserve, resulting in a wake up call.

We need incentive not disincentive, with red tape and bureaucracy the biggest hurdle faced by all small operators.

How many do we see tossing a good job for the dream of being their own boss, to mostly fail in quick time.

Bureaucracy having replaced productivity will result in this country paying a terrible price.

Tighten your belt.

Regards,
Darcey BROWNING,
Bellingen.