Property point

When it comes to an assessment of Australia’s most annoying politician, it is an extensive field.

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The politicians we hear from most-often are from the Federal Government so they are front of mind in the analysis but they certainly have some very strong competition.

There is insufficient space here to give a thorough run-down of all of them but we can mention a few of the most-annoying pollies.

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The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is very annoying. His job means that he is on TV all the time trying to convince us that he has our high cost of living, high interest rate, high immigration, low productivity, high power bills, non-manufacturing economy under control. His voice is annoying and it’s embarrassing to watch.

Unfortunately, the Opposition Leader Angus Taylor is also annoying. Apparently he is a Rhodes Scholar, which means he is educated and must be pretty bright, but he certainly gives a great impression of being a boof head. If the question is, how do we communicate a sophisticated, surgical take-down of the Government and its policies? … The answer is not big old Angus.

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As for the Greens, there is line-up that’s hard to beat because they all want to destroy the economy at the altar of net zero in the name of their fanatical climate change cult. But Senator David Shoebridge is definitely stepping up as a consistently annoying talking head for that party.

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As I said, we don’t have space to go through all the names here but the title for the most annoying politician in the country would have to go to climate change and energy Minister Chris Bowen, the man who tells us that every time you see your power bill you need to remember that renewables are the cheapest form of energy. The transition to renewables is, clearly, unbelievably expensive and Bowen is the annoying face of the Government’s absurd denial of the facts.

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For some reason the person I used to find annoying, Pauline Hanson, doesn’t seem so annoying anymore. Recent polls suggest voters think she is listening to them. We’ll see how she goes over the next few years.

But what I’ve found most annoying in recent weeks is the way Government politicians have responded to the reaction over the recent budget, particularly in relation to the changes to capital gains tax and the removal of negative gearing for new investors.

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On one hand they say that the changes were designed to make housing more accessible for young people. But property markets around the country are falling and ordinary people are starting to see the value of their homes fall.

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When the pollies are asked if their policies are leading to a fall in the value of people’s homes, it suddenly has very little to do with them. “Yes, we are making housing more affordable for young people but don’t look at us if the value of your home is dropping,” seems to be the message.

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And the truth is the big city markets around the country have fallen in the weeks since the Budget. Clearance rates at auctions have fallen and there are now fewer buyers for properties in cities like Sydney, where negative gearing was an essential part of the investment strategy … high costs and lower rents.

First home buyers who recently paid 5 percent deposit on $1m properties in Sydney and have a $950,000 mortgage are now said to have negative equity.

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Agents in Mackay are still getting calls from buyers agents with clients down south wanting to tap into our positively geared opportunities, so there is a belief among many that Mackay will survive any carnage … and our prices are relatively low in a national sense.

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The key in Mackay is always coal as it is the main driver of our economy. Demand for our coking coal seems strong and the price is up compared to last year. Hopefully the pollies don’t stuff that up.

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