Young people aren’t relaxed and comfortable, they’re broke and bovine

July 5, 2026 — 5:00am

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If you were in any doubt as to why the government chose this last budget to push through policies Australia rejected at the 2019 election, former Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten has set us straight. It’s a matter of political expediency. What’s changed is the voters’ roll, he told the Betoota Advocate podcast. Young Australians are a larger share of the vote these days.

Labor’s review into the 2019 election loss, conducted by luminaries Craig Emerson and Jay Weatherill, established that “Labor did not adequately acknowledge the legitimate desire of Australians for improved living standards for themselves and their children through their own hard work and initiative”. Rehashing the same policies either suggests that the young Australians Labor is now targeting no longer desire improved living standards – or that hard work and initiative no longer pay off.

Tragically, research I recently undertook into 18-34 year old Australians suggests that, for many, it’s the latter. Everyone still wants a better life. They’ve just lost confidence that it’s within reach.

No wonder. Only economic growth can raise the standard of living sustainably. A budget focused on redistributing wealth instead of laying the foundations for wealth creation tacitly accepts that living standards will stagnate or decline. We no longer live in an opportunity-driven economy.

This only makes sense as an electoral strategy if young Australians are expected never to have enough surplus cash to revolt over the capital........

© Brisbane Times