Your Opinion Matters

A media report last year claimed that over 20,000 Queensland families were forced to sell their homes in distress sales in the prior 12 months. Families losing their homes are not the cause of inflation. Yet interest-rate rises often treat mortgage holders as the main lever to pull—cutting household spending by increasing repayments, while much of that extra money flows to banks. Meanwhile, renters and people without mortgages may not feel the impact in the same immediate way. If the goal is to reduce spending power to help bring inflation down, a fairer approach would be to divert a set amount from wages—determined independently by a body like the RBA—into superannuation accounts. This would reduce spending in the economy while also addressing another growing problem: many Australians will not have enough super to live on comfortably in retirement. Importantly, any wage diversion should include hardship safeguards. If a household is already struggling to afford essentials or meet mortgage payments, the contribution could be reduced or paused based on clear criteria. At the same time, banks should provide more stability through acceptable long-term fixed-rate options, so home buyers can plan confidently and avoid being whipsawed by rapid rate changes. Fixed-rate settings could still be reviewed periodically, but the system should prioritise stability for families. Finally, ordinary working Australians should not be asked to carry the heaviest burden while large, profitable companies continue to thrive. A fair inflation strategy should protect housing security, support long-term retirement outcomes, and share the load more evenly.