With the Occupy movement filling headlines across the globe, leaving an empty vacuum instead of solutions to their vaguely stated complaints, it is important that we look to Australia, and our own economic situation here at home.
While we pride ourselves on our egalitarianism and in our belief in a ‘fair shake of the sauce bottle’ for all (as one former Prime Minister put it), we must acknowledge that Australia is a free-market economy, and thus is prone to the perks and pitfalls that come with the territory.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics, our national statistical agency, compiles data on wealth and income distribution every two years. What it shows is that Australia has a healthy middle-class, which I’m classifying as the third and fourth quintile. However, it would be hard for people not to be mildly surprised at what is happening either side of the middle class. The share of household worth for the top quintile grew from 59% in 2003-04, to 63% in 2009-10, squeezing the second, third and fourth quintiles along the way. The poorest 20% of Australians have held steady at 1% of household net wealth since 2003-04, which I guess is only slightly more bearable than that number dropping to a statistical 0%.
While all Australians experienced wealth growth over the past decade (mostly through property prices shooting through the roof), in real dollar terms, the growth for the bottom 80% doesn’t look that crash hot when shown on a graph.
It is a similar story in terms of income, which is in my opinion a much better indicator of economic wellbeing. The picture painted here between 2003-04 and 2009-10 is rather more alarming then what I just showed for wealth. Overall, the poorest, second, and third quintiles all have lower wages in the 2009-10 data than they did in 2003-04. The poorest 20% of Australians saw their wages decline by 12.8% between 2003-04 and 2009-10; the second quintile saw a decline of 12.6%; and the third quintile, a 4% decline. Meanwhile, the highest earning Australians saw their income rise by a healthy 11.8%.
One of the more interesting points to note is the different in raw dollar changes in income. Top Australian earners saw their incomes rise by an amount larger than the entire weekly wage of a person in the bottom quintile. That is, a top earner saw his income rise from $3527 a week in 2003-04, to $3943 in 2009-10, resulting in a $416 larger pay cheque compared with the $360 which comprises the entire pay cheque of someone in the bottom quintile.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions last year published a survey they commissioned on the attitudes of Australians towards wealth. The most interesting section here was Australian perceptions of wealth distribution. In each quintile, respondents over estimated the equality of wealth distribution, by a lot. Respondents from every bracket thought the combined wealth of the bottom quintile was 9% of total household net worth, whereas in reality it is 1%. Respondents in the top wealth quintile thought their combined household net worth was 40% of the national total, instead of 61% in reality (Empirca Research, the firm who conducted the survey, for some reason used ABS data from 2007, even though the survey was released last year).
The astounding results to what respondents supplied as their ‘ideal’ wealth distribution speak for themselves.
Highlighting all of this isn’t to bash rich people—I’m studying economics, I’m hoping not to end up poor. Instead, it is to remind Australians of the reality we live in. We must remind ourselves that our social services and our safety nets are there for a reason: because we are not only the lucky country, we are a country renowned for our camaraderie—we help out those in need. Faced with politicians on both sides wielding axes and salivating over the budget, we must remember what is important.
It is a date on the calendar almost designed to stir up controversy. On the 26th of January each year we celebrate who we are as a nation, remembering that this day in 1788 marks the moment when the British first landed on the shores of Botany Bay, changing forever the history of our arid continent. 224 years later, we are a country of 23 million people, from every island, continent and land on earth. Together we have created the most prosperous society in the world. Our poor are climbing out of poverty faster than their global counterparts, our middle class is the highest paid on earth. Our government and our businesses have created an environment where any one can succeed, regardless of where they come from or how rich their parents were. We live longer, are better educated and are healthier than nearly all other peoples across the globe. Our pragmatism has stood us in good stead in this world of economic uncertainties, forged by a consensus to do what is right by our citizens, not by what is most politically expedient.
But this national day is not just to celebrate our success. The benign and innocent choice of January 26th may be the most significant decision we have made to remind us of what we have left to do. Our history has scars, one’s we freely acknowledge, and rather than ignore them, or write them off, we must use their memory to make this great nation a better place for everyone. While there are those in our society who do not share in our prosperity, comfort and security, let us use those scars as a clarion call to do what is necessary so that they one day will.
As the sun sets, every man, woman, and child should remember why we all chose to live in the Great Souther Land. We have forged a country based on personal freedom, one of equal opportunity, where every man can speak his mind, and every woman, hers. We lend a helping hand to those in need, we dig deep into our national psyche for strength during hard times. We espouse values cherished by all and striven for by all other. We prize our diversity, and recognize that our cohesion cements with each passing day. At the center of it all lies a social compact, an intrinsic acknowledgement of the worth of others, of our equality and united vision, encapsulated in a single word that sums up the spirit of a nation: ‘mate’.
We are unique. Our first people arrived 60,000 years ago. Our newest are joining us today. We have made mistakes, we have triumphed. We are one, we are many. Today, our differences are thrown aside and we stand united with pride and proclaim, ‘We are Australian’.
Happy Australia Day.
National Gallery of Australia
Health insurance is funny. Here are some of the humorous coverage exclusions on my Bupa plan (emphasis mine):
‘We will not cover any loss or damage as a result of, or caused by:
(Source: bupa.com.au)
“Nowadays, a candidate must believe not just some but all of the following things: that abortion should be illegal in all cases; that gay marriage must be banned even in states that want it; that the 12m illegal immigrants, even those who have lived in America for decades, must all be sent home; that the 46m people who lack health insurance have only themselves to blame; that global warming is a conspiracy; that any form of gun control is unconstitutional; that any form of tax increase must be vetoed, even if the increase is only the cancelling of an expensive and market-distorting perk; that Israel can do no wrong and the “so-called Palestinians”, to use Mr Gingrich’s term, can do no right; that the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and others whose names you do not have to remember should be abolished.” — The Economist—on the Republican primary | The Economist, December 31, 2012
(Source: economist.com)
“
SOME teamwork is fine and offers a fun, stimulating, useful way to exchange ideas, manage information and build trust.
But it’s one thing to associate with a group in which each member works autonomously on his piece of the puzzle; it’s another to be corralled into endless meetings or conference calls conducted in offices that afford no respite from the noise and gaze of co-workers.
” — Susan Cain—on the need to collaborate for the sake of collaboration | New York Time, January 13, 2012(Source: The New York Times)
[video]
![monthofmay:
Exhibit 1: gay hipster deer, probably from Glebe.
… Or just @JamesWilson
So many triangles!
[note: if viewing from the tumblr dashboard, you have to click on it to see it in its full glory.]
via: sofasandquills](http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luc1ihv05J1r31zu2o1_500.gif)
Exhibit 1: gay hipster deer, probably from Glebe.
… Or just @JamesWilson
So many triangles!
[note: if viewing from the tumblr dashboard, you have to click on it to see it in its full glory.]
via: sofasandquills
Summer reading