Quarterly Essay 92: The Great Divide
Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix It
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Quarterly Essay 92: The Great Divide
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Narrated by:
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Alan Kohler
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By:
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Alan Kohler
About this listen
One of the great mysteries of Australian life is that a land of sweeping plains, with one of the lowest population densities on the planet, has a shortage of land for houses. As a result, Sydney’s median house price is the second most expensive on Earth, after Hong Kong’s.
The escalation in house prices is a pain that has altered Australian society; it has increased inequality and profoundly changed the relationship between generations – between those who have a house and those who don't. Things went seriously wrong at the start of the twenty-first century, when there was a huge and permanent rise in the price of housing. But what actually happened? And what to do now? As Alan Kohler explains, “the solutions are both complex and simple, difficult and easy: supply must be increased and superfluous demand reduced.”
In this crisp, clarifying and forward-looking essay, Alan Kohler tells the story of how we got into this mess – and how we might get out of it.
Alan Kohler is finance presenter on ABC News and a columnist for The New Daily. A former editor of The Age and The Australian Financial Review, he founded the Eureka Report and has written for The Australian, AFR, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. His books include It's Your Money.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Alan Kohler (P)2023 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.What listeners say about Quarterly Essay 92: The Great Divide
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ruby
- 03-03-2024
The history of rising house prices in Australia is just as interesting as the suggestions to fix it
I really enjoyed the way Alan Kohler set out the issues with housing affordability, the history, the various attempts to fix it and how they failed, as well as how decisions made by previous governments intended to focus on something entirely different (e.g shares) created a culture of property speculation for investment rather than ensuring people have enough homes to live in. The suggested twist at the end was also fascinating and has me wondering if Alan where looking at this now, would he throw increasing options to work from home (and enshrining them in workplace law) into the mix.
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- Christopher McHenry
- 09-12-2023
Well researched
In this quarterly essay, Alan Kohler does an excellent job of setting out the causes and potential solutions to Australia’s housing crisis. Clearly his intention is to convince readers that the problem is solvable. Unfortunately, his work has had the exact opposite effect: I’ve never been more convinced that fixing this problem is a hopeless cause.
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- Brian Chan
- 16-12-2023
Comprehensive coverage of how Australian housing situation got to where it is
For those who do not know the history of Australian housing market, tax incentives, and interested to know about the structural imbalance, listening to this essay is a good investment of time.
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- David
- 01-05-2024
Makes a lot of sense
A challenging situation that successive governments have avoided. Real and practical response offered here. Definitely worth considering seriously.
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- Philip Clayton
- 08-09-2024
Food for thought
An eye opening discussion on housing in Australia from a perspective and with a level of detail you won’t get in media soundbites. Draws on politics, finance and other areas for argument with some user friendly stats thrown in. Includes a good discussion on why the housing issue is difficult to address nationally, and how that deadlock might be broken. Something every Australian should read.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-12-2023
Educative and provocative.
Great to listen to such a comprehensive examination of a problem which ,I agree , has the potential for deep and destructive social impact.
There is an interesting statistic of the fall in numbers of persons per household in Australia. By my reckoning, the fall of the last 20 years would require around 1 million houses with any other increase in demand.
Couldn't we examine policies which increased the number of people per household. If it could include 3 generations , then there is clear social benefits in reducing dementia and antisocial behaviours , in addition to reducing housing demand.
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- RT
- 04-01-2024
Telling truth to power
Alan knocks this one out of the park. Best Quarterly Essay I have ever listened to.
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- Mark Storer
- 05-02-2024
Crucial Decisions need to be made.
The author is independantly wealthy from wise decisions made and points out the politics of land ownership that lead to ghastly inequities.
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- Anonymous User
- 13-12-2023
and then there was a war
and 1/3 of Australians (the renters) decided not to defend the country. That's what happened to Sparta, Rome and many others who enjoyed economic violence against their less powerful citizens.... for some time.
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- Jane
- 23-12-2023
Everyone in Australia should listen to this 
It would be nice if all our politicians listened to this and took notes . It is time we stopped just filling the Room with more reports and inquiries. 
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