It was a bad week for Band-Aids. Inflation jumped more than expected because households in Sydney and Melbourne didn’t receive their quarterly government energy payments in time to offset rising bills. Meanwhile, the government’s much-touted first-home buyer scheme – letting buyers enter the market with just a five per cent deposit while the government goes guarantor – was exposed as worse than nothing.

Young people talked about feeling trapped. Like they’re doing everything right but just can’t get ahead.Credit: Louie Douvis

The Insurance Council of Australia, defending its members who sell Lenders Mortgage Insurance, released modelling by Lateral Economics showing the scheme would push property prices up by 3.5 to 6.6 per cent a year, and by as much as 9.9 per cent in the lower-priced segments where first-home buyers are most active. That’s double the supposed saving of skipping insurance.

With Band-Aids like this, who needs enemies? The unintended consequence of these government wraparounds is a straitjacket holding young Australians back.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been experimenting with conversational AI interviewing technology to gauge the aspirations of Australians 18 to 30 years old and the barriers they believe are holding them back. Over the course of 40 in-depth........

© Brisbane Times