Restaurant sparks outrage for "ridiculous" fee

<p>As inflation rates continue to rise it is not surprising that restaurants are charging extra fees, but one disgruntled customer was particularly shocked to see this "ridiculous" fee on their bill. </p> <p>The customer, who dined at restaurant and cocktail bar in Georgia, USA shamed the restaurant for charging their customers a $20 fee for “live band entertainment”.</p> <p>They shared their complaints on Reddit with a copy of their receipt and an unexpected fee at the bottom which read: “Two Live Band Entertainment Fee — $20”.</p> <p>Most people in the comments were equally annoyed and called the fee "ridiculous". </p> <p>“This is one of those leave money on the table, hand the waiter a tip and leave, sorry but if I didn’t order it, I’m not paying for it,” one wrote. </p> <p>“Great way to not have repeat customers,” said another.</p> <p>“This will backfire for them, just be honest and upfront," a third added. </p> <p>Other commenters were less sympathetic and did not understand why the customer was complaining when it looked like they could afford it. </p> <p>“When you’re paying seven dollars for a bottle of water, you really don’t get to complain about ‘unexpected costs.’ You knew what you signed up for," one commenter wrote. </p> <p>“Imagine a live band getting paid, huh,” another added. </p> <p>“They’re buying $7 bottles of water, they can probably afford it,” added a third.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty/ Reddit</em></p>

Money & Banking

"Proud to pay more": The billionaires who want to pay more tax

<p>Over 250 millionaires and billionaires have issued an <a href="https://proudtopaymore.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open letter</a> to global leaders encouraging them to implement wealth taxes to combat the cost-of-living crisis. </p> <p>This comes just as a report by the Oxfam Charity revealed that the global wealth of billionaires have only grown in the last three years despite inflation. </p> <p>The open letter, signed by super-rich individuals from 17 countries, includes signatories like Abigail Disney, the grand-niece of Walt Disney, <em>Succession </em>actor Brian Cox, and American philanthropist and Rockefeller family heir Valerie Rockefeller.</p> <p>They said that they would be "proud to pay more taxes" in order to address the  inequality.</p> <p>"Elected leaders must tax us, the super rich,"  the letter read. </p> <p>"This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations' economic growth.</p> <p>"But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future."</p> <p>Austrian heir Marlene Engelhorn is also among the voices demanding that they pay more in taxes.</p> <p>"I've inherited a fortune and therefore power, without having done anything for it. And the state doesn't even want taxes on it,"  Engelhorn, who inherited millions from her family who founded chemical giant BASF, said.</p> <p>The letter was released just as global leaders gather in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.</p> <p>Abigail Disney, whose net-worth is measured at more than $100 million, said that lawmakers need to come together to make a meaningful economic and social change. </p> <p>"There's too much at stake for us all to wait for the ultra rich to grow a conscience and voluntarily change their ways," she said.</p> <p>"For that reason, lawmakers must step in and tax extreme wealth, along with the variety of environmentally destructive habits of the world's richest."</p> <p>A recent <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63fe48c7e864f3729e4f9287/t/6596bfb943707b56d11f1296/1704378297933/G20+Survey+of+those+with+More+than+%241+million+on+Attitudes+to+Extreme+Wealth+and+Taxing+the+Super+Rich.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> of almost 2400 millionaires found that 74 per cent of them supported the introduction of a wealth tax to fund improved public services and deal with the cost-of-living crisis.</p> <p>The open letter also said that one-off donations and philanthropy "cannot redress the current colossal imbalance" of societal wealth.</p> <p>"We need our governments and our leaders to lead," the letter said. </p> <p>"The true measure of a society can be found, not just in how it treats its most vulnerable, but in what it asks of its wealthiest members."</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

Money & Banking

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting hard. Here are 3 ways to soften the blow

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ama-samarasinghe-1386754">Ama Samarasinghe</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p>As our wallets feel the strain from the cost-of-living crisis, many of us are looking for ways to soften the blow.</p> <p>While everyone’s circumstances are different, and ideally you should seek help from an accredited financial adviser, there are some tried and true ways to work out where all your money is going and why.</p> <p>Here are three practical tips to reduce the impact of the cost-of-living increases, and stretch every hard-earned dollar.</p> <h2>1. Hunt for a better loan rate</h2> <p>For many households, the biggest hit comes from the mortgage, so start there.</p> <p>Even a modest 0.5% reduction can translate into substantial savings. Call your bank today and just ask for rate reduction. If the answer is no, consider shopping around for a different lender.</p> <p>Your loyalty to your current lender might be costing you more than you realise. Banks often reserve their most attractive rates for new customers, leaving long-time customers paying higher-than-necessary interest.</p> <p>Even if your bank does agree to a rate reduction, explore the market anyway. There is a range of free rate-comparison websites, or you can directly check individual bank websites.</p> <p>If you find a lender offering a better rate, you might consider calling the competing bank to ask about switching your mortgage to them.</p> <p>Or, you might seek assistance from a mortgage broker, who can guide you through the process of securing a better deal (just remember they often take <a href="https://www.canstar.com.au/home-loans/mortgage-brokers-fees/">commissions</a> from lenders).</p> <p>Tread carefully and factor in any exit fees or charges from your current lender. Refinancing isn’t without risk, so a thorough cost-benefit analysis is important before making the switch.</p> <p>Also consider the value of features such as <a href="https://moneysmart.gov.au/glossary/offset-account">offset accounts</a>. An offset account, linked to your home loan, allows you to deposit money such as your salary and savings. This money is then “<a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2015/aug/box-e-offset-account-balances-and-housing-credit.html">offset</a>” against your home loan balance.</p> <p>That means you only pay interest on the outstanding amount (the loan minus whatever salary and savings you put in the offset). This can accelerate loan repayment and reduce interest costs.</p> <p>Keep in mind that offset accounts are typically only available with variable interest rates. Offset accounts work best if you have considerable savings to put into the offset account that outweigh the additional fees and charges attached to offset accounts.</p> <h2>2. Trim your expenses and uncover hidden savings</h2> <p>It’s time to become a budget detective, identifying and cutting down on non-essential costs that might be quietly draining your wallet.</p> <p>Take a close look at those recurring memberships and subscriptions. How often do you actually use that gym membership or streaming service?</p> <p>Many banking apps have handy spending tracking features to help you set realistic budget goals for each spending category.</p> <p>According to the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/selected-living-cost-indexes-australia/latest-release">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a>, insurance and financial services are among the top risers in living cost indexes (which measure the price change of goods and services and its effect on living expenses). So search comparison websites for better insurance premiums.</p> <p>Australia’s insurance market is competitive, and you can often get discounts by bundling your insurances together (for example, having your home and contents insurance with the same company that also provides your car insurance). However, don’t shy away from exploring different insurers for potentially better value.</p> <p>Don’t overlook energy costs, either. Use comparison websites like <a href="https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/">Energy Made Easy</a> (or, if you’re in Victoria, the <a href="https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/">Victorian Energy Compare</a> site) to find more cost-effective energy plans. Stay updated on rebates and concessions via the federal government’s <a href="https://energy.gov.au">Energy.gov.au</a> site, to ensure you’re maximising your entitlements.</p> <p>Use less energy, if you can. Small adjustments can make a significant dent in your bills. And for fuel costs, find websites and applications that allow you to lock in the lowest prices in your area.</p> <p>If you’re renting, ask yourself whether moving to a cheaper suburb or a cheaper home is an option.</p> <p>Many people use cashback sites like Cashrewards and ShopBack to accrue cashback incentives.</p> <h2>3. Maximise returns and tackle high-interest debts</h2> <p>While rising interest rates might make your mortgage climb, it also means high interest on your savings.</p> <p>Consider exploring high-yield savings accounts; with current interest rates, you could potentially earn around 5.5% with a bank savings account. Many people set up recurring transfers to help them stick to savings goals, increase deposits and maximise interest earnings.</p> <p>For those wrestling with high-interest debts such as credit cards or personal loans, prioritise settling outstanding balances to minimise interest payments. It can be hard to escape the long-term repercussions (such as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/payday-lending-trap-requires-a-credit-supply-rethink-39311">poor credit score</a>) of defaulting on <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/09/21/researchers-uncover--pecking-order-of-defaults--as-belts-tighten.html">high-interest loans</a>.</p> <p>And approach buy-now, pay-later services with extreme caution. They may seem tempting but the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acfi.13100">debts can quickly add up</a>.</p> <p>And if you need more help, contact the government’s free National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218118/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ama-samarasinghe-1386754"><em>Ama Samarasinghe</em></a><em>, Lecturer, Financial Planning and Tax, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cost-of-living-crisis-is-hitting-hard-here-are-3-ways-to-soften-the-blow-218118">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

What to wear for a climate crisis

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-wallis-568028">Rachael Wallis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a></em></p> <p>When people move to the country from the city, they need to change their wardrobes, my <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/area.12540">research on tree-changers</a> in Australia found. The new context of their lives means the clothes they wore for the city no longer work for their new lives. This is also true in the climate crisis.</p> <p>Our context has changed. When we decide what clothes to buy, we now need to bring into play a wider range of values than the appearance of a garment, its newness and novelty and whether we like it or not. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/">states</a>, if we are to have any hope of avoiding a world that is too hot and unpredictable to live in, we need to do everything we possibly can, right now, to cut greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.</p> <p>The fashion industry contributes <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.973102/full">up to 10% of global emissions</a> – more than international aviation and shipping combined. It also contributes to biodiversity loss, pollution, landfill issues, unsafe work practices and more.</p> <p>Australia’s carbon footprint from the consumption and use of fashion is the <a href="https://hotorcool.org/unfit-unfair-unfashionable/">world’s biggest</a>, a dubious distinction in a materialistic world.</p> <p>So this is an area where the choices we make can have big impacts. While individual action will not solve all of the above problems, it will help as we move towards the structural and systemic change needed to live sustainably.</p> <p>If we are concerned about these issues, responding thoughtfully means we will live our lives according to our values. And that’s an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6326475/">important factor</a> in living well, flourishing and being happy.</p> <p><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-teOOs" style="border: none;" title="Carbon footprints from fashion consumption in G20 nations" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/teOOs/2/" width="100%" height="589" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Stacked Bars" data-external="1"></iframe></p> <h2>Lessons from wartime</h2> <p>It’s not the first time people have adapted their clothing in response to the demands of a crisis.</p> <p>During the second world war, <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-clothes-rationing-affected-fashion-in-the-second-world-war">clothing styles changed</a> in the United Kingdom and Australia. To conserve precious resources, shorter skirts, minimal detailing and a focus on utility became the norm.</p> <p>People adapted their personal aesthetics and appearance because the situation was grave and they wanted to “do their bit” to help with the war effort. This was a collective necessity in dire times.</p> <p>This wartime response reflected the priorities and values of society as a whole as well as most people in that society. In other words, buying less (rationing meant this was not just a choice), mending and making do with what was already there was part of a value system that contributed to the Allied victory.</p> <p>In novels and other writing from the era, it is clear that at times it was not easy and it could be frustrating. There was, however, a public consensus that it was necessary. This shared commitment to the war effort became a value that made personal sacrifices worthwhile and satisfying.</p> <h2>So what can we do today?</h2> <p>In our current context, the <a href="https://hotorcool.org/unfit-unfair-unfashionable/">most helpful thing we can do</a> is to buy fewer new clothes and wear them for longer.</p> <p>Australians buy a lot of clothes, about <a href="https://www.cleanup.org.au/fastfashion">56 items per year</a> on average. That makes Australians the <a href="https://hotorcool.org/unfit-unfair-unfashionable/">second highest textiles consumers in the world</a> after <a href="https://www.cleanup.org.au/fastfashion">the USA</a> , and is <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2017/09/76e05528-fashion-at-the-crossroads.pdf">60% more than we bought even 15 years ago</a>. The <a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/textiles-in-europes-circular-economy">price of clothes has dropped significantly</a> over the past couple of decades, and the <a href="https://hotorcool.org/unfit-unfair-unfashionable/">number of clothes</a> people have in their closets has grown.</p> <p>If we begin to shift away from our slavish devotion to newness and novelty – following the dictates of fashion – to a mindset of value-led sufficiency, we can appreciate more fully the feel of lived-in, mended or altered clothes. There is a feeling of comfort in pulling on an old garment that is soft with age and repeated washing. There is <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Loved_Clothes_Last/StfnDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=joy+of+creative+mending&amp;pg=PT7&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q=joy%20of%20creative%20mending&amp;f=false">joy in extending a garment’s life</a> through creative mending, especially when that aligns with our values.</p> <p>The Berlin-based <a href="https://hotorcool.org/unfit-unfair-unfashionable/">Hot or Cool Institute</a> suggests a wardrobe of 74 garments (including shoes but excluding undergarments) is typically sufficient for people who live in a two-season climate (in the tropics) and 85 pieces for those who live in a four-season climate, as most Australians do. If we buy ten to 12 new items a year, we can replace our entire wardrobe in about seven years.</p> <p>Buying second-hand instead of new is even better because it doesn’t add to current production emissions. If we buy second-hand, it still doesn’t mean we should buy more than we need.</p> <h2>Choosing clothes to fit our values</h2> <p>To live authentic lives that are fulfilling and satisfying in deep and meaningful ways, we need to be true to our selves. In the case of clothing, we should evaluate our choices in relation to the values we hold. And if we do care about living sustainably, that means changing those choices we feel are no longer suited to the climate crisis.</p> <p>Clothes need to reflect a person’s situation as well as their identity to <a href="https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q4x53/the-phenomenological-and-discursive-practice-of-place-in-lifestyle-migration-a-case-study-of-stanthorpe-queensland">“work” well</a>. This may mean that what we wear changes as we make different buying decisions, just as people did in the second world war and as tree-changers do. We may start to look different, but that change signifies our values in action.</p> <p>Best of all, clothing choices that align with keeping global warming to less than 1.5 degrees will have a long-term impact as significant as winning the war.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214478/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-wallis-568028">Rachael Wallis</a>, Research Assistant, Youth Community Futures, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-to-wear-for-a-climate-crisis-214478">original article</a>.</em></p>

Beauty & Style

The rental housing crisis is hurting our most vulnerable and demands a range of solutions (but capping rents isn’t one of them)

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-beer-111469">Andrew Beer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emma-baker-172081">Emma Baker</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p>Roughly <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/housing-occupancy-and-costs/2019-20">one in three Australians</a> rent their homes. It’s Australia’s fastest-growing tenure, but renting is increasingly unaffordable. From 2020 to 2022, our <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4253168">research</a> found a large increase in the proportion of renters who said their housing was unaffordable.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=217&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=217&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=217&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=273&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=273&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542737/original/file-20230815-25187-p7vxqo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=273&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="horizontal bar chart showing changes in Australian renters' assessments of affordability form 2020 to 2022" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Change in Australian renters’ assessments of affordability from 2020 to 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Baker, Daniel, Beer, et al, forthcoming, The Australian Housing Conditions Dataset, doi:10.26193/SLCU9J, ADA Dataverse</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Australians are concerned about the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/05/rents-rise-again-across-australia-with-sydney-seeing-fastest-rise-in-20-years">pace</a> of <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/how-much-has-rent-increased-around-australia/8ljlnf0zm">rent rises</a>. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-meeting">says</a> increasing housing supply and affordability is the “key priority” for tomorrow’s national cabinet meeting.</p> <p>The crisis has impacts well beyond affordability. The rental sector is where the worst housing accommodates the poorest Australians with the worst health.</p> <h2>The unhealthy state of rental housing</h2> <p>Forthcoming data from the <a href="https://dataverse.ada.edu.au/dataverse/ahcdi">Australian Housing Conditions Dataset</a> highlight some of these parallel challenges:</p> <ul> <li> <p>it’s often insecure – the average lease is less than 12 months, and less than a third of formal rental agreements extend beyond 12 months</p> </li> <li> <p>rental housing quality is often very poor – 45% of renters rate the condition of their dwelling as “average, poor, or very poor”</p> </li> <li> <p>poor housing conditions put the health of renters at risk – 43% report problems with damp or mould, and 35% have difficulty keeping their homes warm in winter or cool in summer</p> </li> <li> <p>compounding these health risks, people with poorer health are over-represented in the rental sector. Renters are almost twice as likely as mortgage holders to have poorer general health.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Measures that potentially restrict the supply of lower-cost rental housing – such as rent caps – will <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4253168">worsen these impacts</a>. More households will be left searching in a shrinking pool of affordable housing.</p> <h2>It’s all about supply</h2> <p>Fixing the rental crisis needs more than a single focus on private rental housing. The movement between households over time between renting and buying homes means the best solutions are those that boost the supply of affordable housing generally. No one policy can provide all the answers.</p> <p>Governments should be looking at multiple actions, including:</p> <ul> <li> <p>requiring local councils to adopt affordable housing strategies as well as mandating <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/analysis/brief/understanding-inclusionary-zoning">inclusionary zoning</a>, which requires developments to include a proportion of affordable homes</p> </li> <li> <p>improving land supply through better forecasting at the national, state and local levels</p> </li> <li> <p>giving housing and planning ministers the power to deliver affordable housing targets by providing support for demonstration projects, subsidised land to social housing providers and access to surplus land</p> </li> <li> <p>boosting the recruitment and retention of skilled construction workers from both domestic and international sources.</p> </li> </ul> <h2>The biggest landlord subsidy isn’t helping</h2> <p>More than <a href="https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/taxation-statistics-2020-21/resource/ebbd32e3-4556-41e1-a8b9-33387457d518">1 million Australians</a> claim a net rent loss (negative gearing) each year. Even though negative gearing is focused on rental investment losses, it is not strictly a housing policy as it applies to many types of investment.</p> <p>The impact of negative gearing on the housing system is untargeted and largely uncontrolled. As a result, it’s driving outcomes that are sometimes at odds with the need to supply well-located affordable housing.</p> <p>The most impactful action the Australian government could take to deliver more affordable rental housing nationwide would involve refining negative-gearing arrangements to boost the supply of low-income rentals. These measures may involve</p> <ul> <li>limiting negative gearing to dwellings less than ten years old</li> <li>introducing a low-income tax credit scheme similar to the one in the United States.</li> </ul> <p>We can learn much from the US, where the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (<a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/lihtc.html">LIHTC</a>) scheme subsidises the acquisition, construction and renovation of affordable rental housing for tenants on low to moderate incomes. Since the mid-1990s, the program has supported the construction or renovation of about 110,000 affordable rental units each year. That adds up to over <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-low-income-housing-tax-credit-and-how-does-it-work">2 million units</a> at an estimated annual cost of US$9billion (A$13.8billion).</p> <p>This scheme is much less expensive per unit of affordable housing delivered than Australia’s system of negative gearing.</p> <p>Closer to home, the previous National Rental Affordability Scheme showed the value of targeted financial incentives in encouraging affordable housing. This scheme, available to private and disproved investors, generated positive outcomes for tenants. The benefits included better health for low-income tenants who were able to moved into quality new housing.</p> <p>A <a href="https://cityfutures.ada.unsw.edu.au/documents/81/Next_moves_report.pdf">raft</a> of <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/260431">evaluations</a> have <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/267">demonstrated</a> the achievements of this scheme.</p> <h2>Crisis calls for lasting solutions</h2> <p>Short-term measures such as rent caps or eviction bans will not provide a solution in the near future or even the medium or long term. Instead, these are likely to worsen both the housing costs and health of low-income tenants.</p> <p>Reform focused on ongoing needs is called for. Solutions that can be implemented quickly include the tighter targeting of negative gearing and the introduction of a low-income housing tax credit.</p> <p>Talking about change, as the national cabinet is doing, will begin that process of transformation, but it must be backed up by a range of measures to boost the supply of affordable housing. This, in turn, will improve the housing market overall as affordable options become more widely available.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211275/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-beer-111469">Andrew Beer</a>, Executive Dean, UniSA Business, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emma-baker-172081">Emma Baker</a>, Professor of Housing Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rental-housing-crisis-is-hurting-our-most-vulnerable-and-demands-a-range-of-solutions-but-capping-rents-isnt-one-of-them-211275">original article</a>.</em></p>

Real Estate

Tourists flock to the Mediterranean as if the climate crisis isn’t happening. This year’s heat and fire will force change

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanne-becken-90437">Susanne Becken</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/johanna-loehr-1457342">Johanna Loehr</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>Thousands of people on the beach. Children reportedly falling off evacuation boats. Panic. People fleeing with the clothes on their backs. It felt like “the end of the world”, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/23/british-tourists-tell-of-nightmare-in-rhodes-fires-greece">one tourist</a>.</p> <p>The fires sweeping through the Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu are showing us favourite holiday destinations are no longer safe as climate change intensifies.</p> <p>For decades, tourists have flocked to the Mediterranean for the northern summer. Australians, Scandinavians, Brits, Russians all arrive seeking warmer weather. After COVID, many of us have been keen to travel once again.</p> <p>But this year, the intense heatwaves have claimed <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/world/heatwave-pictures-wildfires-worsen-greece-italy-spain-europe-us-2488556">hundreds of lives</a> in Spain alone. Major tourist drawcards such as the Acropolis in Athens have been closed. Climate scientists are “stunned by the ferocity” of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/25/northern-hemisphere-heatwaves-europe-greece-italy-wildfires-extreme-weather-climate-experts">heat</a>.</p> <p>This year is likely to force a rethink for tourists and for tourism operators. Expect to see more trips taken during shoulder seasons, avoiding the increasingly intense July to August summer. And expect temperate countries to become more popular tourist destinations. Warm-weather tourist destinations will have to radically change.</p> <h2>What will climate change do to mass tourism?</h2> <p>Weather is a major factor in tourism. In Europe and North America, people tend to go from northern countries to southern regions. Chinese tourists, like Australians, often head to Southeast Asian beaches.</p> <p>In Europe, the north-south flow is almost hardwired. When Australians go overseas, they often choose Mediterranean summers. Over the last decade, hotter summers haven’t been a dealbreaker.</p> <p>But this year is likely to drive change. You can already see that in the growing popularity of shoulder seasons (June or September) in the traditional Northern Hemisphere summer destinations.</p> <p>Many of us are shifting how we think about hot weather holidays from something we seek to something we fear. This comes on top of consumer shifts such as those related to sustainability and <a href="https://theconversation.com/flight-shaming-how-to-spread-the-campaign-that-made-swedes-give-up-flying-for-good-133842">flight shame</a>.</p> <p>What about disaster tourism? While thrillseekers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/22/death-valley-tourism-extreme-weather-california">may be flocking</a> to Death Valley to experience temperatures over 50℃, it’s hard to imagine this type of tourism going mainstream.</p> <p>What we’re more likely to see is more people seeking “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2016.1213849?journalCode=rsus20">last-chance</a>” experiences, with tourists flocking to highly vulnerable sites such as the Great Barrier Reef. Of course, this type of tourism isn’t sustainable long-term.</p> <h2>What does this mean for countries reliant on tourism?</h2> <p>The crisis in Rhodes shows us the perils of the just-in-time model of tourism, where you bring in tourists and everything they need –food, water, wine – as they need it.</p> <p>The system is geared to efficiency. But that means there’s little space for contingencies. Rhodes wasn’t able to easily evacuate 19,000 tourists. This approach will have to change to a just-in-case approach, as in other <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyshih/2022/01/30/from-just-in-time-to-just-in-case-is-excess-and-obsolete-next/?sh=195cd054daf7">supply chains</a>.</p> <p>For <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261517712002063">emergency services</a>, tourists pose a particular challenge. Locals have a better understanding than tourists of risks and escape routes. Plus tourists don’t speak the language. That makes them much harder to help compared to locals.</p> <p>Climate change poses immense challenges in other ways, too. Pacific atoll nations like Kiribati or Tuvalu <a href="https://www.pacificpsdi.org/assets/Uploads/PSDI-TourismSnapshot-TUV3.pdf">would love</a> more tourists to visit. The problem there is water. Sourcing enough water for locals is getting harder. And tourists use a lot of water – drinking it, showering in it, swimming in it. Careful planning will be required to ensure local carrying capacities are not exceeded by tourism.</p> <p>So does this spell the end of mass tourism? Not entirely. But it will certainly accelerate the trend in countries like Spain away from mass tourism, or “overtourism”. In super-popular tourist destinations like Spain’s Balearic Islands, there’s been an increasing pushback from locals against <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-in-the-era-of-overtourism-but-there-is-a-more-sustainable-way-forward-108906">overtourism</a> in favour of specialised tourism with smaller numbers spread out over the year.</p> <p>Is this year a wake-up call? Yes. The intensifying climate crisis means many of us are now more focused on what we can do to stave off the worst of it by, say, avoiding flights. The pressure for change is growing too. Delta Airlines is being sued over its announcement to go carbon neutral by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/30/delta-air-lines-lawsuit-carbon-neutrality-aoe">using offsets</a>, for instance.</p> <h2>Mountains not beaches: future tourism may look a lot different</h2> <p>You can already see efforts to adapt to the changes in many countries. In Italy, for instance, domestic mountain tourism is <a href="https://www.euromontana.org/en/neve-diversa-how-mountain-tourism-can-adapt-to-climate-change/">growing</a>, enticing people from hot and humid Milan and Rome up where the air is cooler – even if the snow is disappearing.</p> <p>China, which doesn’t do things by halves, is investing in mountain resorts. The goal here is to offer cooler alternatives like northern China’s <a href="https://english.news.cn/20230714/9ae6f89a6b7b433ebde3ec689b87f6db/c.html">Jilin province</a> to beach holidays for sweltering residents of megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai.</p> <p>Some mountainous countries are unlikely to seize the opportunity because they don’t want to draw more tourists. Norway is considering a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2022/12/03/norway-to-consider-introducing-tourist-tax-from-2024/?sh=710871eb1b27">tourist tax</a>.</p> <p>Forward-thinking countries will be better prepared. But there are limits to preparation and adaptation. Mediterranean summer holidays will be less and less appealing, as the region is a <a href="https://www.unep.org/unepmap/resources/factsheets/climate-change">heating hotspot</a>, warming 20% faster than the world average. Italy and Spain are still <a href="https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/severe-drought-western-mediterranean-faces-low-river-flows-and-crop-yields-earlier-ever-2023-06-13_en">in the grip</a> of a record-breaking drought, threatening food and water supplies. The future of tourism is going to be very different. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210282/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanne-becken-90437">Susanne Becken</a>, Professor of Sustainable Tourism, Griffith Institute for Tourism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/johanna-loehr-1457342">Johanna Loehr</a>, , <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tourists-flock-to-the-mediterranean-as-if-the-climate-crisis-isnt-happening-this-years-heat-and-fire-will-force-change-210282">original article</a>.</em></p>

International Travel

King Charles hit hard by cost of living crisis

<p>As the cost of living crisis continues around the world, it seems even those at the very top are not as immune from the financial uncertainty as expected. </p> <p>King Charles and the royal family are the latest hit by the crisis, with the Crown Estate losing half a billion pounds (approx. $950 million AUD) on its London property portfolio after the value of retail space crashed.</p> <p>King Charles was reportedly forced to dip into the royal reserves by £21 million (approx. $40 million AUD) due to overspending by the Palace, while staff have implemented a number of cost-cutting measures across the various royal estates including turning down the heating.</p> <p>Following a year of "unprecedented" royal activity that saw both the death of Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of King Charles, Buckingham Palace's net expenditure grew by more than £5 million this year, to £107.5 million (approx. $203 million AUD) in just a few short months. </p> <p>The spending was used on events such as the Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, the Queen's funeral, preparation for the King's coronation and the joining of two royal households.</p> <p>During a media briefing on Tuesday, Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the royal family's Sovereign Grant, emphasised that it had been "an exceptional year" for the royal household.</p> <p>He said the financial strain related to a year of "grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades".</p> <p>The historic events, he said, have "inevitably entailed additional burdens on resources" to ensure that they were "delivered safely and smoothly, and that the change of reign was effected as seamlessly as possible at a time of great national and international interest".</p> <p>The Platinum Jubilee cost £700,000 (approx. $1.3 million AUD), while the Queen's funeral cost £1.6 million (approx. $3.5 million AUD).</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

Our cemeteries face a housing crisis too. 4 changes can make burial sustainable

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-falconer-1171812">Kate Falconer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hannah-gould-999499">Hannah Gould</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p>Australia’s housing crisis is no secret. What many people don’t realise is that there’s another, less visible housing crisis. Australia’s urban cemeteries are <a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-the-dead-what-happens-when-a-city-runs-out-of-space-70121">running out of space</a> to house the dead.</p> <p>In Sydney, for example, a <a href="https://www.cemeteries.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/Statutory-Review-of-the-Cemeteries-Crematoria-Act.pdf">2020 report</a> found all of the city’s existing public cemeteries would be full by 2032. This will leave the communities they serve without a place to bury their dead.</p> <p>We know how to solve this crisis. A few key changes can make Australia’s cemeteries more sustainable and viable for generations to come.</p> <p>But these changes require political will to act. That’s because the solutions involve changes to the state-based laws that govern cemeteries. We can start with Victoria’s <a href="https://www.health.vic.gov.au/cemeteries-and-crematoria/cemeteries-and-crematoria-regulations-2015">Cemeteries and Crematoria Regulations 2015</a>, which must be updated by 2025.</p> <h2>Make renewable grave tenure the default option</h2> <p>Most Australians <a href="https://theconversation.com/losing-the-plot-death-is-permanent-but-your-grave-isnt-33459">assume graves last forever</a>. This system of perpetual tenure is mandatory in Victoria and the ACT. It’s the (near-universal) default in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.</p> <p>But this system makes our burial space a “single use” resource. Overseas, perpetual tenure is the exception rather than the rule. Almost all <a href="https://www.talkdeath.com/cemetery-overcrowding-leading-europe-recycle-burial-plots/">European</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lack-of-burial-space-is-changing-age-old-funeral-practices-and-in-japan-tree-burials-are-gaining-in-popularity-161323">East Asian countries</a> have limited tenure for burial, or actively encourage cremation.</p> <p>Where grave renewal occurs in Australia, it happens a long time after burial, typically between 25 and 99 years. By this time, the physical remains of the grave’s previous occupant have significantly degraded. Any remnants are preserved in an ossuary or dug deeper into the soil.</p> <p>Cemeteries in South Australia and Western Australia already have renewable grave tenure. Families have an option to extend tenure, should they wish to do so.</p> <p>By making renewable tenure the default option across Australia, cemeteries will greatly increase future capacity. If all of Sydney’s public cemeteries adopted a 35-year renewable tenure system, for example, it has <a href="https://www.cemeteries.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/Statutory-Review-of-the-Cemeteries-Crematoria-Act.pdf">been estimated</a> the city’s burial needs over the next 99 years would require 38% less land.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zysuo1Pw-2w?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">One of Perth’s major cemeteries is redeveloping existing burial grounds in response to running out of space.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>Create dedicated natural burial grounds</h2> <p>One simple, more environmentally friendly option is “<a href="https://www.gmct.com.au/services/natural-burials">natural burial</a>”. Natural burial eschews embalming, caskets made from hardwood or metal, and monumental headstones. Instead, the body is buried in biodegradable materials, such as wicker or cardboard.</p> <p>Green burial grounds are popular in the United Kingdom and Europe. They require less irrigation and maintenance. They also offer <a href="https://theecologist.org/2019/jan/14/case-natural-burial">a way to conserve natural woodlands</a> and so help foster biodiversity.</p> <p>Some Australian cemeteries offer <a href="https://smct.org.au/murrun-naroon-natural-burials">natural burial as an option</a> next to traditional grave plots. There are, however, few dedicated natural burial grounds. Legislating natural burial grounds as distinct entities will allow specific regulations that give priority to regular grave renewal and positive environmental impact.</p> <p>Natural burial grounds may also make “better neighbours” than traditional cemeteries if communities are going to be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-23/sydney-is-running-out-of-burial-space/101881570">asked to live alongside new cemeteries</a>. Overcoming resistance to new cemetery developments is essential to secure future burial capacity.</p> <h2>Legalise alternative disposal methods</h2> <p>We are all familiar with burial and cremation. But what about dissolving bodies in an alkaline solution – known as “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/could-water-cremation-become-the-new-american-way-of-death-180980479/">water cremation</a>” or “alkaline hydrolysis” – or transforming them into compost (“natural organic reduction”)?</p> <p>These options have <a href="https://theconversation.com/life-after-death-americans-are-embracing-new-ways-to-leave-their-remains-85657">robust environmental credentials</a>. They require less space than burial, as they produce portable remains in the form of ashes or soil. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64140571">Several US states</a> now permit these options.</p> <p>In most of Australia, these options exist in a legal grey area. In <a href="https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/03-80aa034%20authorised_0.pdf">Victoria</a>, authorisation must be sought from the Department of Health to dispose of a body other than by burial or cremation. Queensland has no comprehensive cemeteries legislation, and thus no guidance on the legality of these alternatives.</p> <p><a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2011-568">New South Wales</a> legalised water cremation (but not natural organic reduction) in 2011. The state now has two such facilities.</p> <p>Other states and territories should follow NSW in explicitly legalising viable alternative disposal methods. This will ease pressure on cemeteries and provide greater choice to families.</p> <h2>Invest in cemeteries as multi-use green spaces</h2> <p>Current regulatory frameworks emphasise the cemetery as a space of sombre reflection and remembrance. <a href="https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/15-59sra003%20authorised.pdf">Victoria</a>, for example, prohibits a wide range of activities, including dancing, fishing and sport.</p> <p>However, as <a href="https://www.acf.org.au/natural_solutions_needed_for_our_overheating_cities">green space becomes scarce</a> in Australia’s major cities, public opinion and current practices are falling out of alignment with such regulations. In a <a href="https://theconversation.com/visions-of-future-cemeteries-5-models-and-how-australians-feel-about-them-149150">recent national survey</a>, two-thirds of respondents disagreed with the sentiment that cemeteries were solely spaces for memorialisation. They supported the use of cemeteries as public green space.</p> <p>Historic cemeteries, where new burials and visits are rare, offer even greater potential as multi-use public space. In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866722001418">cities overseas</a>, jogging, walking the dog and picnics are common in these cemeteries.</p> <p>Australia is yet to feel the full effects of the impending crisis of cemetery space. While big changes are needed to avert this crisis, at least the path forward is clear.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205987/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-falconer-1171812">Kate Falconer</a>, Lecturer, T.C. Beirne School of Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hannah-gould-999499">Hannah Gould</a>, Research Fellow, Social And Political Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cemeteries-face-a-housing-crisis-too-4-changes-can-make-burial-sustainable-205987">original article</a>.</em></p>

Caring

Around the world three-year cruise in crisis

<p dir="ltr">When Life at Sea Cruises announced their record-breaking <a href="https://oversixty.co.nz/travel/cruising/world-first-three-year-cruise-revealed">three-year voyage</a> around the world, eager travellers raced to book their cabins onboard. </p> <p dir="ltr">Marketed as the "world's first – and only three year cruise", demand for rooms was “unprecedented”, with some travel enthusiasts moving out of their homes and selling their possessions in preparation for the trip of a lifetime. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the demand for a spot on board the MV Gemini, the future of the voyage is now in jeopardy, with Life at Sea Cruises, a subsidiary of Miray Cruises, being inundated with demands for refunds just months after the bookings opened. </p> <p dir="ltr">The entire team at Life at Sea Cruises, which was set up specifically for the record-breaking project, has parted ways with Miray Cruises after an apparent breakdown in communication over the suitability of the ship.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mike Petterson, the now former managing director for <a href="https://www.lifeatseacruises.com/">Life at Sea Cruises</a> confirmed to <em><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/three-year-cruise-crisis/index.html">CNN Travel</a></em> on Wednesday that he and the rest of the founding team have "stepped away" from the project.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the team breakdown, Kendra Holmes, director of business development and commercial operations at Miray International, insisted that the voyage will still go ahead. </p> <p dir="ltr">"This cruise is not cancelled," Holmes said. "We are moving ahead. It is departing November 1st as planned. So I just want to make sure to clear that up right now. We are not cancelling this."</p> <p dir="ltr">However, it's still unclear whether the voyage will go ahead on board MV Gemini, or a different ship.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Currently the name of the ship is Gemini," Holmes added, before explaining that she was not able to discuss a new ship at present.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I wish that we didn't have these kinds of situations," said Fuat G., hotel director at Miray Cruises. "We are moving forward. Whatever we have to do to finish that project. And [we will] go to a second, third, fourth and fifth ship. Whatever it is."</p> <p dir="ltr">A press release announcing the project back in March stated that the MV Gemini would be "overhauled" for the voyage.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, according to Irina Strembitsky, former director of sales and marketing of Life at Sea Cruises, the ship, which has capacity for up to 1,074 passengers, was deemed "unseaworthy" by an engineer, who also expressed doubt that it would be able to complete a three-year journey.</p> <p dir="ltr">Understandably, the news of the uncertainty that the trip will go ahead has caused major concern for passengers, with some demanding a refund.</p> <p dir="ltr">One traveller who voiced her concerns is retired teacher <a href="https://oversixty.co.nz/travel/cruising/meet-the-woman-preparing-to-spend-three-years-at-sea">Sharon Lane</a>, who booked a ticket for the entire three-year journey and planned to sell most of her belongings before setting off. </p> <p dir="ltr">Lane says that regardless of how things turn out, she will not be going on the journey, which was due to visit 135 countries and seven continents.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Life at Sea says the trip is cancelled. Miray says it's still a go, but without the entire Life at Sea management team," she told <em>CNN</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I don't really care who is right or wrong. I'm allergic to chaos. Going was a huge calculated risk to begin with. Now, it's far too risky for my liking."</p> <p dir="ltr">"It's very sad," she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I was all in. It will take me some time to undo what I have already set in place, but at least I'm not one of those who has already sold a house and all of my belongings. My heart aches for them."</p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><em>Image credits: Life at Sea Cruises</em></p>

Cruising

“What do I actually do?”: Woman’s costly chocolate-coated crisis

<p>A woman in the United States has been left with quite the mess on her hands after her cake order took a questionable - and rather expensive -  turn. </p> <p>In a video posted to TikTok, by user @libbycarlsonn, she revealed what had become of her $300 USD (~$443 AUD/NZD) request after it had been dropped off by the baker.</p> <p>The clip featured her with a hand covering her face and the text “guys I paid $300 for this and the lady just dropped it off what do I actually do” across the top of the screen. </p> <p>It continued on to show an image of a carefully constructed chocolate cake, the one that the TikToker had been hoping to receive, and concluded with what she’d actually been delivered: something best described as a sort of chocolate avalanche, with chocolate melting down haphazardly placed chunks of cake, and a dusting of sprinkles over it all. </p> <p>“TikTok, work your magic because I need advice right now," her caption read. </p> <p>The video gained over 3.7m views, and over 4,000 comments, though most weren’t offering advice so much as commiserating with her, or poking fun at the sillier side of her situation, and many were of the opinion that she should demand a refund immediately. </p> <p>“When you say dropped it off, did she literally drop it?” one user wanted to know. “Also how is that the same as the one in the photo??? HOW?”</p> <p>Another pressing concern came soon after, with someone asking “why are there sprinkles???”</p> <p>“Put it in the fridge probably just melted a bit,” one suggested. </p> <p>“No way that’s what they gave you!! I would’ve flip[ped] that cake onto their face. Wow!!” another said. </p> <p>“Tbf…. I prefer the disaster cake,” one shared, “it looks tastier but I’d definitely ask for a refund.”</p> <p>Another felt quite strongly about that, telling the TikToker “well obviously it's false advertising and that's illegal”.</p> <p>One, however, simply refused to accept that the story was true, writing “I’m sorry I literally do not believe you”.</p> <p>“Girl you made that. Quit playing! Lol,” another agreed. </p> <p>And as one said, “honestly, there’s no way this is true or you dropped it before posting.”</p> <p><em>Images: TikTok</em></p>

Food & Wine

Artist puts the lid on rubbish rental prices

<p>In the age of soaring interest rates and a global housing crisis, one young man in the United Kingdom had a wheelie good idea for getting a roof over his head.</p> <p>His solution? Skipping the queues, and moving into a bin.</p> <p>British artist and architect Harrison Marshall was down in the dumpsters when he decided to seize the opportunity, to both raise awareness about those being forced from their homes due to extortionate rent prices in London - and give himself somewhere to stay in the process - by converting an old skip into a tiny home. </p> <p>The Skip House boasts a whole range of features that one might not expect to find in a place so small - 25 square metres, in fact - with the likes of insulted timber framing, a barrel roof capable of fitting a bed, a kitchen hob - the whole set up including a sink, a stove, and a tiny fridge - as well as a wardrobe. </p> <p>And although it took a month since Marshall moved himself in, the skip was eventually connected to the grid, allowing him to warm his tiny property. The home doesn’t have its own flushing toilet or even a shower, but it doesn’t phase Marshall, who makes use of such amenities at work or at the gym. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co22dZwoxaQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co22dZwoxaQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by SKIP House (@theskiphouse)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“With the cost of living at an all time high, and no end in sight, this project is about living for less,” Marshall said of the project on the Skip House’s Instagram, “in one of the most expensive cities in the world, London.</p> <p>“People across the country are changing the way they live to compensate for the rising cost of basic necessities,” he continued. “Living in a skip isn’t the solution, but rather an exploration and a statement.”</p> <p>As Marshall, who now pays approximately $90 a week in rent, told <em>Southwark News</em>, “it seems crazy that people work in the city and can’t afford to live here. Or [that] people who have lived here their whole lives can’t afford to stay here, so they’re having to move out.”</p> <p>He explained that constructing the tiny home was “the only way” for him to continue to live there, and that he hoped to spark a conversation around housing, particularly when it came to unused urban wasteland spots, and how more creative solutions had to be out there. </p> <p>“It also gave quite a good juxtaposition between what you don’t typically think of as a house and almost the polar opposite of that, which is a bin or dumpster,” Marshall told <em>Business Insider</em>, “and how actually that could be turned into something which is relatively cosy and homely.”</p> <p>And as for what his neighbours think about his unusual housing venture, he told<em> Southwark News </em>that he had between 20 and 25 of them show up to his skip-warming, “they’re all super supportive.</p> <p>“People have even seen me doing stuff in the garden and gone to get their tools and come to help out and people around have filled up my hot water bottle.”</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

King Charles’ coronation crisis

<p>King Charles’ coronation concert has taken an unexpected turn, with two global music superstars turning down requests to play at the major event. </p> <p>English singer songwriter Adele, best known for her hits Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You, was approached to perform at the concert on May 7 but has reportedly declined due to scheduling conflicts. </p> <p>However, the 34-year-old has not publicly announced any commitments for this date, and her last show for her Las Vegas residency is on March 25. </p> <p>Fellow English singer songwriter Ed Sheeran, who rose to fame with hits such as The A Team and Shape of You, also declined the invite from the palace. </p> <p>Sheeran has recently set off on the first leg of his Mathematics World Tour and has a show scheduled in Texas on May 6, rendering him unable to attend.</p> <p>Prior to the news, organisers of the event had stated that King Charles was enthusiastic about their appearances, with one source sharing that “the King has suggested a number of people he would like to perform and Adele and Ed were on that list. He was very keen that they were part of the concert."</p> <p>The same source went on to explain that "there is a team set up to get the talent signed up so they approached the two of them, but got replies saying that they were unavailable, which was a massive disappointment. They are titans of the showbiz industry and are quintessentially British but also known across the globe. It's such a shame."</p> <p>Despite their absence, King Charles’ concert will not be without a few famous faces, with the likes of Lionel Richie and Victoria Beckham rumoured to make an appearance.</p> <p>It has even been hinted that the Spice Girls may take part in a special reunion show. Melanie C, also known as Sporty Spice, has suggested that they are still “hashing out a plan.” </p> <p>Rumours also suggest that pop icon Harry Styles may be featured in the star-studded lineup, with the King reportedly “particularly keen” to see him perform. </p> <p>While thousands of tickets are expected to be made available via a public ballot, the BBC will screen the concert live for those who are unable to make it in person.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Music

Aussie man faces sky-high rent for “rotten” home

<p dir="ltr">As the cost-of-living and housing crisis collide, it has left many Aussie renters living in poor conditions while paying an increasing amount to do so.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Jarod, who wished for his surname not to be used, this has meant experiencing multiple rental increases over the past couple of years, all while living in a home without heating or cooling that is “falling down”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 51-year-old lives in Hobart, one of the country’s least affordable cities, and has gone from paying $450 a week back in 2020 to a hefty $540 now, with another jump expected to hit in the coming months that he is estimating will be upwards of $600.</p> <p dir="ltr">As a result of the skyrocketing rent, he has been forced to share the rental with a friend since it is “impossible” for him to live alone.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s set a precedent for greedy landlords and you think you are paying a lot of rent so you would get good services but this house is rotten and it’s falling down,” he told <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/impossible-rental-crisis-reveals-unaffordable-homes-across-australia/news-story/9037cc4ad2bd91b8c34cd03f176f032a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The bathroom is falling into the floor, there is no heating and no cooling and this is a 200-year-old house that is basically in original condition.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But that’s not uncommon. I have looked at a lot of viewings and you see a really bad kitchen with no working oven and no heating and they still want top dollar and are not willing to budge to do any renovations.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The semi-retired antique dealer is also taking part in a project with Everyday’s Home, an affordability campaign group, by measuring the temperatures in his home.</p> <p dir="ltr">He told the outlet that one of his rooms measured at 41C recently despite the peak of summer still to come.</p> <p dir="ltr">Having moved to Tasmania in 2008, Jarod said he was easily able to find affordable rentals until 2016, with the recent exodus of people from Sydney and Brisbane making things even worse.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s causing strain on relationships with other people, like the other person I live with and my family and I’ve had to ask my family for money over the recent period as I’m struggling financially,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have started to look but I don’t drive so I have had to look out in the remote areas and they are just really difficult with transport and getting around and getting to basic stuff like the shops.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Then you’re sacrificing your lifestyle and things like the shops and day-to-day activities that you would normally do. It’s just a really anxiety-ridden process.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have been trying to find somewhere else but it’s really difficult as there is no stock available for the people looking as well, so you go to somewhere for example and there will be hundred people there.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Jarod’s story comes as a new rental affordability report from SGS Economics and National Shelter found that 40 percent of low-income households are experiencing rental stress, as well as struggling to pay for food, heating, and healthcare.</p> <p dir="ltr">In comparison, only 35 percent of low-income households were experiencing rental stress in 2008.</p> <p dir="ltr">The housing crisis has affected renters across the country, with historic lows in affordability being recorded in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ellen White, the lead author of the report, said the rental crisis had spread to regional areas following the pandemic, with the recent floods also having an impact.</p> <p dir="ltr">National Shelter CEO Emma Greenhalgh has called for rental reform to help curb the rental crisis and stop the rise in homelessness and housing stress.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We need rental reform that includes limiting rent increases and adjustments to income support including Commonwealth Rent Assistance,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We also need greater investment in social and affordable housing to reverse a decade-long decline.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d298f84e-7fff-902f-572c-2cfe957523b0"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: news.com.au</em></p>

Real Estate

Prince Andrew to appeal loss of another royal perk

<p dir="ltr">Prince Andrew has lost another costly royal perk in the wake of his various controversies, but his appeal against it may spark ire among Brits struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former royal has been told he will no longer be granted taxpayer-funded armed guards from next month, nearly a year after he was stripped of his titles and duties after his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was publicised.</p> <p dir="ltr">Unlike titles and duties, security for the royal family is determined by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, including the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and palace officials.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to <em>The Sun</em>, insider sources said Andrew has written to the Home Office and Met Police over losing his security detail.</p> <p dir="ltr">''He is going to write to the Home Office and the Met Police to complain about losing his taxpayer-funded security,'' the source told the outlet.</p> <p dir="ltr">Currently, Andrew is escorted by police guards whenever he leaves the grounds of Windsor, with the escort estimated to cost taxpayers up to three million pounds ($NZ 5.8 million) a year.</p> <p dir="ltr">With the UK facing a cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing bills this winter, there is speculation that Andrew’s complaints may cause more negative reactions towards him.</p> <p dir="ltr">''He doesn't seem to understand that he's in disgrace and people don't want to hear from him anymore - especially him with his begging bowl,” a Labour MP said, as reported by <em>Express UK</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The latest loss comes after the 62-year-old was told to stop using His Royal Highness and his royal military titles in January, with his royal patronages also returned to the late Queen.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the following months, Andrew settled a lawsuit launched against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.</p> <p dir="ltr">With the ultimate decision surrounding his security detail lying with Home Secretary Suella Braverman and given his recent controversies, it seems unlikely that Andrew’s appeal will be a success.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d10cf40b-7fff-cd55-9619-9ca938bdf68d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

Royal staff face uncertain future amid palace shake-up

<p dir="ltr">King Charles III is reportedly planning to slim down the ranks of staff at England’s royal residences, months after staff at Clarence House were told they were being made redundant.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to a royal insider, the reported 491 full-time staff working across Buckingham Palace, Balmoral Castle, Windsor Castle and other royal residences, per <em><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/king-charles-reportedly-planning-to-fire-late-queen-s-ladies-in-waiting-among-other-staff/ar-AA14jAlj?cvid=94ec179e798b4a65b52b3da30143492b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">msn.com</a></em>, are “extremely worried” about their positions and fear they will be unemployed by the end of the year.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It's a really testing time. Many are already resigned to leaving jobs they have cherished for years," the insider told <em><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/20479578/king-charles-makes-major-royal-shake-up/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mirror</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It's left a real sense of dread among staff."</p> <p dir="ltr">Royal insiders believe Queen Elizabeth II’s ladies-in-waiting at the Royal Stud in Sandringham are among those at risk.</p> <p dir="ltr">The news comes one week after the King announced a one-off cost-of-living bonus for his staff, with a source telling <em><a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/king-charles-pays-staff-bonus-out-of-pocket-cost-of-living/c4f05fbe-3d8e-4e13-b475-6b2f9c15a28d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sun</a></em> that Charles was paying hundreds out of his own pocket to help his lowest-earning employees during the country’s cost-of-living crisis.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It is being given on a ­sliding scale with those most in need and on lower wages getting the most money," the source said.</p> <p dir="ltr">For some royal staff, the recent risk of redundancy may come for a second time, after up to 100 employees at Charles’ former residence of Clarence House were given redundancy notices during the Queen’s thanksgiving service in September.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a letter sent to staff by Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s top aide, it was revealed that the Clarence House household “will be closed down”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The change in role for our principals will also mean change for our household … The portfolio of work previously undertaken in this household supporting the former Prince of Wales’s personal interests, former activities and household operations will no longer be carried out, and the household … at Clarence House will be closed down. It is therefore expected that the need for the posts principally based at Clarence House, whose work supports these areas will no longer be needed,” his letter read, as reported by the <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/13/king-charles-staff-given-redundancy-notice-during-church-service-for-queen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guardian</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I appreciate that this is unsettling news and I wanted to let you know of the support that is available at this point.”</p> <p dir="ltr">It is understood that staff made redundant would be offered searches for alternative employment across the royal households.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f647db3b-7fff-0830-52f2-2639733dc02f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest number of staff,” a Clarence House spokesman said at the time.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

News

If cities don’t want homeless encampments they should help people, not punish them

<p>This summer, homeless encampments in cities such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tents-structures-downtown-eastside-vancouver-removal-1.6545853" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-14/in-a-vacant-lot-in-watts-a-homeless-camp-gets-swept-away-by-l-a-along-with-the-brush" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a> and <a href="https://www.coastreporter.net/in-the-community/homeless-camp-on-toredo-street-dismantled-police-report-5325829" target="_blank" rel="noopener">others</a> were dismantled.</p> <p>The reasons varied. In Vancouver, it was fire hazard concerns on Hastings Street, a major artery in the Downtown Eastside, where the encampment had sprung up over several blocks.</p> <p>In Los Angeles, the encampment was on city-owned land intended for other uses. There, officials have gone even further to curtail encampments, with the city council <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/tension-boil-at-la-city-council-meeting-over-controversial-homeless-encampment-ban/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approving a ban</a> on homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centres.</p> <p>Encampments of those experiencing homelessness have become a fixture in large cities as well as smaller communities. It should not be surprising that people who are unsheltered seek out the relative security, community and resources encampments can provide.</p> <p>Yet, the ineffective, and often punitive, responses by various levels of government are alarming. These policy failures are most evident in the troubling encampment evictions occurring across North America.</p> <p>More than <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/how-many-people-are-homeless-canada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">235,000 people are estimated to be homeless in Canada</a>. In addition to these visibly homeless, another <a href="https://www.acto.ca/production/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Factsheet-4-Homelessness-in-Canada-and-Ontario2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">450,000 to 900,000 are among the “hidden” homeless</a>: those staying with family and friends because they have nowhere to live.</p> <p><strong>Policing not the answer</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.canadahousingcrisis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Our country has a housing crisis</a>. Homelessness results from a severe shortage of affordable housing, poverty and insufficient support services. For people who end up homeless, it is a tortuous and difficult route.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488929/original/file-20221010-58630-5we8hv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="A group of people stand in front of a brown building carrying a banner that reads: where are we supposed to go?" /></a><figcaption><em><span class="caption">A woman addresses the crowd during a protest against Vancouver’s removal of a homeless encampment on the sidewalks in the Downtown Eastside, August 16, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>For many, their path to living on the streets starts with childhood trauma, mental health issues and substance misuse. For others, in low paying jobs with no savings or family support, they can be one pay cheque away from homelessness. Regardless of how they end up homeless, people deserve to be treated with dignity and understanding.</p> <p>Instead, shockingly, police have been carting away belongings from encampments, leaving people with few options of where to stay, other than another street or park. Even worse, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tents-structures-downtown-eastside-vancouver-removal-1.6545853" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evictions have turned violent</a>.</p> <p>Los Angeles is not the only city that has tried to enforce bans on people sleeping in public space with so-called vagrancy by-laws. When Victoria tried to enforce city by-laws to that effect in 2005, homeless people took the city to court. The B.C. Supreme Court sided with the unhoused people, <a href="https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1358&amp;context=fac_pubs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying that it was an infringement of their rights</a>.</p> <p>A similar court decision occurred in 2021 when residents of a <a href="https://nst.ca/win-for-homeless-residents-of-crab-park-vancouver/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CRAB Park encampment</a> in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside challenged an injunction by the Vancouver Parks Board forcing an eviction. Elsewhere in British Columbia, the city of Prince George was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prince-george-apologizes-homeless-1.6396206" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to apologize</a> for the trauma it caused by destroying part of an encampment even though a judge ruled that the encampment must remain because there is not enough adequate accessible housing in the city to justify its closure.</p> <p>Dismantling encampments has a dire impact on people’s lives. It severs social relationships, causes stress, and increases fear and distrust of authorities. It dehumanizes unhoused populations even more.</p> <p><strong>Long-term solutions needed</strong></p> <p>It is clear that dismantling encampments is not the answer. Some people, even if they have been provided with shelter, will opt for encampments. In other cases, which occurred in Vancouver this summer, there was no shelters or other housing available. And in previous encampment evictions, some residents were offered <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/majority-people-moved-strathcona-park-1.6009673" target="_blank" rel="noopener">substandard SRO housing</a>, the same kind of housing some were fleeing when they opted for living on the streets.</p> <p>By-laws and practices which target activities like sleeping on streets, parks or in cars and panhandling <a href="https://www.nlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Overview-of-Homeless-Encampments-Brief.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criminalize individuals</a>. And the consequences of criminalizing homelessness disproportionately falls on racialized people. Marginalized communities often face discrimination in accessing housing and other services which is compounded if they have a criminal record due to homelessness.</p> <p><a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220314/dq220314b-eng.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ten per cent of the off-reserve First Nation and Inuit populations</a> have experienced homelessness in Canada. In 2020, the last year that a <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20201007/documents/pspc1presentation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">homeless count was conducted in Vancouver</a>, 39 per cent of the city’s homeless population was Indigenous even though they comprise two per cent of the total population.</p> <p>People who identified as Black, Hispanic and Arab were also significantly over-represented compared to their percentage of the general population.</p> <p>As the federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle said in a September visit to Vancouver’s homeless encampments, “<a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/09/08/Housing-System-Failed-Everyone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the housing system has failed everyone there</a>.” Homeless encampments have become a last resort because of lack of better housing alternatives. The <a href="https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/resources/unsafe-conditions-people-experiencing-homelessness-a-pressing-human-rights-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shelter system</a> is overcrowded and too restrictive for many people.</p> <p>But sanctioning encampments should not be the only solution. Encampments can be unsafe and dangerous places, and provide little opportunity for moving out of homelessness. We need a holistic approach to ending homelessness that addresses the reasons for homelessness.</p> <p>For those who fall into homelessness out of economic necessity we need more plentiful affordable rental housing, rental assistance and stronger rent controls to ensure that renters’ rights are upheld. For those struggling with multiple health and substance issues, we need more <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/solutions/transitional-housing/permanent-supportivesupported-housing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supportive housing</a>.</p> <p>For Indigenous people experiencing homelessness we need more, better funded, and culturally appropriate housing and services. For those ending up in encampments we need to ensure, at the very least, that their <a href="https://www.make-the-shift.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/A-National-Protocol-for-Homeless-Encampments-in-Canada.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rights are upheld</a>.</p> <p>Homeless encampments are not going to go away any time soon. The federal government has already declared housing to be a human right. We must work to end homelessness now.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192133/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; background-color: #ffffff;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Written by Penny Gurstein. Republished with permission of <a style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #258440; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" href="https://theconversation.com/if-cities-dont-want-homeless-encampments-they-should-help-people-not-punish-them-192133" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; background-color: #ffffff;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Real Estate

Nobel economics prize: insights into financial contagion changed how central banks react during a crisis

<p><em>This year’s <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2022/prize-announcement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nobel prize in economics</a>, known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, has gone to Douglas Diamond, Philip Dybvig and former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke for their work on banks and how they relate to financial crises.</em></p> <p><em>To explain the work and why it matters, we talked to Elena Carletti, a Professor of Finance at Bocconi University in Milan.</em></p> <p><strong>Why have Diamond, Bernanke and Dybvig been awarded the prize?</strong></p> <p>The works by <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2022/10/popular-economicsciencesprize2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diamond and Dybvig</a> essentially explained why banks exist and the role they play in the economy by channelling savings from individuals into productive investments. Essentially, banks play two roles. On the one hand, they monitor borrowers within the economy. On the other, they provide liquidity to individuals, who don’t know what they will need to buy in future, and this can make them averse to depositing money in case it’s not available when they need it. Banks smooth out this aversion by providing us with the assurance that we will be able to take out our money when it’s required.</p> <p>The problem is that by providing this assurance, banks are also vulnerable to crises even at times when their finances are healthy. This occurs when individual depositors worry that many other depositors are removing their money from the bank. This then gives them an incentive to remove money themselves, which can lead to a panic that causes a bank run.</p> <p>Ben Bernanke fed into this by looking at bank behaviour during the great depression of the 1930s, and showed that bank runs during the depression was the decisive factor in making the crisis longer and deeper than it otherwise would have been.</p> <p><strong>The observations behind the Nobel win seem fairly straightforward compared to previous years. Why are they so important?</strong></p> <p>It’s the idea that banks that are otherwise financially sound can nevertheless be vulnerable because of panicking depositors. Or, in cases such as during the global financial crisis of 2007-09, it can be a combination of the two, where there is a problem with a bank’s fundamentals but it is exacerbated by panic.</p> <p>Having recognised the intrinsic vulnerability of healthy banks, it was then possible to start thinking about policies to alleviate that risk, such as depositor insurance and reassuring everyone that the central bank will step in as the lender of last resort.</p> <p>In a bank run caused by liquidity (panic) rather than insolvency, an announcement from the government or central bank is likely to be enough to solve the problem on its own – often without the need for any deposit insurance even being paid out. On the other hand, in a banking crisis caused by insolvency, that’s when you need to pump in money to rescue the institution.</p> <p><strong>What was the consensus about bank runs before Diamond and Dybvig began publishing their work?</strong></p> <p>There had been a lot of bank runs in the past and it was understood that financial crises were linked to them – particularly before the US Federal Reserve was founded in 1913. It was understood that bank runs made financial crises longer by exacerbating them. But the mechanism causing the bank runs wasn’t well understood.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=405&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=405&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=405&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=509&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=509&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489027/original/file-20221010-11-on0vn4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=509&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Police controlling an angry crowd during a Paris bank in 1904" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">A bank run in Paris in 1904.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/paris-police-hold-back-crowd-making-242294071" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everett Collection</a></span></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>How easy is it to tell what kind of bank run you are dealing with?</strong></p> <p>It’s not always easy. For example, in 2008 in Ireland it was thought to be a classic example of bank runs caused by liquidity fears. The state stepped up to give a blanket guarantee to creditors, but it then became apparent that the banks were really insolvent and the government had to inject enormous amounts of money into them, which led to a sovereign debt crisis.</p> <p>Speaking of sovereign debt crises, the work by Diamond and Dybvig also underpins the literature on financial contagion, which is based on a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/262109" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2000 paper</a> by Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale. I worked with Allen and Gale for many years, and all our papers have been based on the work of Diamond, and Diamond and Dybvig.</p> <p>In a similar way to how state reassurances can defuse a bank run caused by liquidity problems, we saw how the then European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was able to defuse the run on government bonds in the eurozone crisis in 2011 by saying that the bank would do “<a href="https://qz.com/1038954/whatever-it-takes-five-years-ago-today-mario-draghi-saved-the-euro-with-a-momentous-speech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whatever it takes</a>” to preserve the euro.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tB2CM2ngpQg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p><strong>The prize announcement has attracted plenty of people on social media saying we shouldn’t be celebrating Bernanke when he was so involved in the quantitative easing (QE) that has helped to cause today’s global financial problems – what’s your view?</strong></p> <p>I would say that without QE our problems would today be much worse, but also that the prize recognises his achievements as an academic and not as chair of the Fed. Also, Bernanke was only one of the numerous central bankers who resorted to QE after 2008.</p> <p>And it is not only the central bank actions that make banks stable. It’s also worth pointing out that the changes to the rules around the amount of capital that banks have to hold after 2008 have made the financial system much better protected against bank runs than it was beforehand.</p> <p><strong>Should such rules have been introduced when the academics first explained the risks around bank runs and contagion?</strong></p> <p>The literature had certainly hinted at these risks, but regulation-wise, we had to wait until after the global financial crisis to see <a href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/fsr/art/ecb.fsrart201405_03.en.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reforms such as</a> macro-prudential regulation and more stringent micro-prudential regulation. This shows that regulators were underestimating the risk of financial crises, perhaps also pushed by the banking lobbies that had been traditionally very powerful and managed to convince regulators that risks were well managed.</p> <p><strong>If retail banks become less important in future because of blockchain technology or central bank digital currencies, do you think the threat of financial panic will reduce?</strong></p> <p>If we are heading for a situation where depositors put their money into central banks rather than retail banks, that would diminish the role of retail banking, but I think we are far from that. Central bank digital currencies can be designed in such a way that retail banks are still necessary. But either way, the insights from Diamond and Dybvig about liquidity panics are still relevant because they apply to any context where coordination failures among investors are important, such as sovereign debt crises, currency attacks and so on.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192208/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em>Written by Elena Carletti. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-economics-prize-insights-into-financial-contagion-changed-how-central-banks-react-during-a-crisis-192208" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: The Nobel Foundation</em></p>

Money & Banking

Leaked email advises landlords to increase rent amid housing crisis

<p dir="ltr">A real estate agency in Brisbane has come under fire over a leaked email in which landlords were advised to consider raising rents by more than 20 percent amid Australia’s worsening rental crisis.</p> <p dir="ltr">The email, sent by Ray White East End, asked landlords to consider whether their properties were being “under-rented” and advised them to increase rents by “above 20 percent” - more than double the rate of inflation - with potential earnings of an extra $10,000 a year.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our property managers have been reviewing all our lease renewals and on average recommending a 17% rent increase on the leases renewed in October &amp; November this year,” the email said, per <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/brisbane-real-estate-agency-advises-landlords-to-increase-rents-by-over-20-amid-housing-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As we are planning December lease renewals, the average lease renewal recommendation is above 20%. This can be as much as $10,000 per year in additional rental income.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The agency said that “many landlords are not being provided with the information to make an informed decision” about rent increases, claiming that landlords were being advised to sign long-term leases with increases of $5 to $20 a week.</p> <p dir="ltr">The email also said that most tenants “are agreeable” to the increases and would understand that it is “fair and reasonable” based on what is available on the market.</p> <p dir="ltr">“On average, apartments in West End/Highgate Hill/South Brisbane/Brisbane CBD are renting for one bedroom $480 to $520+ [a week and for] two bedrooms $675 to $850+ [a week],” the email said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If you are not achieving these rents (at a minimum), you should be asking why?”</p> <p dir="ltr">It comes as the Queenlsand government prepares to hold a housing summit to address rising homlessness and rental stress across the state.</p> <p dir="ltr">Penny Carr, the chief executive at advocacy organisation Tenants Queensland, said the email was an example of “opportunistic price-gouging” that is happening across Australia at the moment.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Rents are unaffordable for people at the moment and tenants are having to absorb increases because of fear of not finding another property or becoming homeless,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We should only allow rent increases above CPI if they’re justifiable and there’s been major work to the property or something’s had to be replaced.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Carr said rent increases have been due to vacancy rates and supply and demand, and that the email dispels the myth that a land tax proposed by the government last year for interstate investors is to blame.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Ray White East End principal realtor Luke O’Kelly said rental affordability relies on investors.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Over the past 12 months, Brisbane has had some of the strongest population growth in the country and this has most clearly shown up in rental growth,” Mr O’Kelly said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Right now, Brisbane doesn’t have enough homes for those that want to live here … with rents rising so quickly, Brisbane needs more property investors.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Fiona Caniglia, executive director of not-for-profit housing and homelessness organisation Q Shelter, said the timing of the email couldn’t be worse.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is disappointing to hear this the week of the emergency housing summit to be honest,” she told <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/dont-have-enough-homes-rental-agency-ray-white-tries-to-increase-rent-by-20-per-cent/news-story/e4ff2ab4807fffe3b50b90fe81069156" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We already know that many vulnerable Queenslanders are struggling to secure a rental property in the first place.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“There are record numbers of people showing up for the small number of properties listed right across Queensland. Such an increase will only benefit those on higher incomes and will of course again negatively affect vulnerable Queenslanders, forcing more people into homelessness.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ray White’s chief economist Nerida Conisbee defended the email in a statement shared with the outlet, saying that the market is currently ideal for investors.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Right now, Brisbane doesn’t have enough homes for those that want to live here,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is making it tough for renters but does make it a good place to invest. While red hot house price growth is unlikely to start up again in the near future, yields are increasing as rents rise.”</p> <p dir="ltr">With Australians paying an extra $7.1 billion in rent over the past year and the average renter spending $62 more a week than this time last year, Greens housing and homelessness spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said the email showed that urgent action is needed.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s this sort of flagrant price-gouging that demonstrates exactly why we need a national two-year freeze on rent increases,” he said.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-605890c5-7fff-934e-a79a-b24009315c32"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Real Estate

Rent crisis? Average rents are increasing less than you might think

<p>You wouldn’t know it from the pages of our daily newspapers, but the rate of growth in rents has been pretty modest.</p> <p>Not everywhere, not for everyone, but for most Australians who rent.</p> <p>According to the most recent count used by the Bureau of Statistics to compile the consumer price index, rents increased by only <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release#overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.6%</a> in the year to June.</p> <p>By comparison, wages climbed <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/wage-price-index-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2.6%</a>.</p> <p>Higher increases in other prices pushed the overall consumer price index up <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6.1%</a>.</p> <p>Rent decreases during COVID mean that over the past five years the total increase has been just 1.5%.</p> <p>Average rents are barely any higher than they were at the start of COVID.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="GnFV0" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: initial none initial;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GnFV0/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>The Bureau gets its data direct from the computers of real estate agents, state housing authorities and the Department of Defence (for Darwin).</p> <p>It covers rent actually paid, for a “<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/detailed-methodology-information/concepts-sources-methods/consumer-price-index-concepts-sources-and-methods/2018/price-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">matched sample</a>” of dwellings, meaning it refers to the same dwellings each quarter so as to record genuine price changes.</p> <p><strong>Actual versus advertised rents</strong></p> <p>In contrast, the media (and some <a href="https://everybodyshome.com.au/resources/housing-criticalthe-role-of-housing-in-solving-critical-skill-shortages-across-the-regions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interest groups</a>) prefer to focus on the data for “advertised” or asking rents. These have been growing more strongly than the overall mass of rents paid.</p> <p>Nationwide, advertised rents climbed <a href="https://www.corelogic.com.au/news-research/news/2022/residential-rents-hit-record-highs-as-national-vacancy-rates-plummet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8.2%</a> in the year to June, and by almost 18% over the five years to June on CoreLogic’s data.</p> <p>But advertised rents are only a tiny fraction of the rents actually paid. Not all properties get advertised. Advertised rents don’t always match up with the agreed rent. Most renters remain on existing contracts.</p> <p>Although advertised rents might be expected to relate to overall rents over time, they are not necessarily representative of the entire market.</p> <p>Our main concern ought to be what has happened to low-income renters.</p> <p><strong>Low increases for low-income renters</strong></p> <p>Australia’s lowest-income renters receive rent assistance, which is pretty frugal. Single renters get no more than <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-rent-assistance-you-can-get?context=22206" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$73 a week</a>, and very large families up to $97.</p> <p>But the typical rent paid by Australians on rent assistance hasn’t increased much. Over the year to June, the median rent for rent assistance recipients climbed by 1% – roughly $5 per week. Over the past five years it has increased 9% – somewhat less than the increase in the consumer price index of 10.7%.</p> <p>Over the longer term, low-income rents have increased more sharply. Households in the bottom 40% of income distribution used to spend around 22% of their after-tax income on rent, and now spend about 30%, down from a peak of 32%.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="pRiMR" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: initial none initial;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/pRiMR/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>If there is a crisis in rents, the figures suggest it is not widespread.</p> <p>Rents in locations including Perth and Darwin are climbing much more strongly than others as they come off long periods of negative rent growth.</p> <p>The growth in asking rents is most pronounced away from the cities, in particular in holiday and tree-change destinations such as Richmond-Tweed (including Byron Bay), Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay.</p> <p>Some were experiencing strong growth in asking rents before COVID, which accelerated through COVID.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="JMbb7" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: initial none initial;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JMbb7/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>Other regions, including parts of Sydney and Melbourne, have experienced subdued or <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release#overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">negative</a> growth.</p> <p>Across all renting households we are yet to see any serious growth. To date, the “rent crisis” has been felt mainly in a few specific locations and among people looking for new rental properties.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189154/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ben-phillips-98866" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Phillips</a>, Associate Professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Director, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian National University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rent-crisis-average-rents-are-increasing-less-than-you-might-think-189154" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

How to get out of the energy crisis, according to top technology experts

<p>Low-emissions technology and renewable energy are the way out of the current energy crisis, according to the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.</p> <p>In its <a href="https://www.atse.org.au/news-and-events/article/here-and-now-the-state-of-low-emissions-technology-in-australia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new report</a> on the state of low-emissions technology, the academy emphasises that existing renewable energy sources – like solar, wind, batteries and pumped hydro – are mature technologies which will provide cheaper and more reliable energy in the long term.</p> <p>While they’re already a big part of our energy mix, it’s going to take more work before they’re dominant. According to the academy, Australia needs more policy, big infrastructure investments, and broad social support to transition completely to these technologies.</p> <p>“By deploying clean energy on the huge scale required to replace fossil fuels, we can eliminate nearly three quarters of global emissions and enhance global energy security,” says academy fellow Katherine Woodthorpe, former director of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Vast Solar.</p> <p>“In Australia, it will also lead to cheaper and more reliable supplier pricing for onshore manufacturers as well as a potentially exportable resource.”</p> <p>Professor Renate Egan, research leader for the University of New South Wales at the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics says: “Australia-wide, we already get 32% of our electricity from renewables. And that’s actually doubled in five years.</p> <p>“We need that to double again. We can do it possibly in five years, but at least in 10 years.”</p> <p>At the centre of the transition lies our <a href="https://www.atse.org.au/news-and-events/article/here-and-now-the-state-of-low-emissions-technology-in-australia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy grid</a>. Formerly something that ran off a handful of big energy producers, the grid is becoming more and more complicated with the addition of smaller and more diverse energy sources – from rooftop solar, to large batteries and offshore wind farms.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><iframe title="Cosmos Shorts: What is the grid?" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KmCXCXa5loA?feature=oembed" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>Egan refers to the modernising grid as an “internet of energy”.</p> <p>“With [energy] being generated in all different places and flowing in all different directions, we really need better monitoring, measuring and analysis of what’s going on, to allow us to make smart decisions,” says Egan.</p> <p>Fortunately, the technology now exists to manage this change too.</p> <p>“You’ll need smart sensors deployed pretty much everywhere producing a huge volume of data, with smart software to analyse and make use of that data,” says academy fellow George Maltabarow, the former managing director of Ausgrid.</p> <p>Academy fellow Professor Lachlan Blackhall, head of the battery storage and grid integration program at the Australian National University says: “This trend of distributed energy resources is actually happening globally.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p197575-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> <p>“We’re seeing a really significant increase in the decentralisation of all energy systems. But Australia is actually on track to have the most decentralised energy system of anywhere in the world.”</p> <p>Strengthening and diversifying the grid is particularly important, because electricity will be providing more of our energy in general.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><iframe title="Cosmos Shorts: What could our future electricity grid look like?" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hGWw3gF7Z9k?feature=oembed" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>Maltabarow says the transition away from fossil fuels “is going to require electrifying just about everything”.</p> <p>This transition includes household gas supplies – although gas power stations will <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/gas-price-energy-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">likely still have a small role to play</a> as a peak transition fuel for the next few decades. <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/cosmos-briefing-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Electric vehicle</a> batteries could also provide some additional storage space for the grid to use.</p> <p>“We really do have all of the technology that we’re going to need, so it’s really important that we also focus on the social and the economic,” says Blackhall.</p> <p>“One of the key things that we do advocate for is actually an increase in the amount of social science research, in particular, that’s being done to actually go out and understand householder and community expectations and ensure that we have social licence for this very significant energy transition.”</p> <p>Social support is particularly important in the context of the current crisis, where energy prices are 115% higher than previous records, and <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/aemo-energy-market-gas-crisi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trading was temporarily suspended</a> by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).</p> <p>“The current crisis has been a decade in the making,” says Maltabarow.</p> <p>“In the short to medium term, prices are going to increase. The challenge is to make sure that increase is minimised to the extent that we can.”</p> <p>Academy fellow Alex Wonhas, a member of the NSW Energy Corporation’s advisory board and former head of engineering and system design at AEMO says Australia “has the technologies to avoid a future crisis”.</p> <p>“However, we must act now to lay the foundation of a truly modern energy system,” Wonhas says.</p> <p>“That requires investment in a whole mix of different technologies.”</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=197575&amp;title=How+to+get+out+of+the+energy+crisis%2C+according+to+top+technology+experts" width="1" height="1" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/energy-crisis-escape-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/ellen-phiddian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ellen Phiddian</a>. Ellen Phiddian is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a BSc (Honours) in chemistry and science communication, and an MSc in science communication, both from the Australian National University.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Technology