Yep, compared to the States we're still pretty rosy, but I feel like there's been a definite erosion in general liveability and social provision in Australia over the last 15 years. 15 years ago I went to Melbourne Uni, and lived a series of sharehouses with 2-3 mates within a 10km radius of the campus, and could afford to do so by working around 20-25 hours a week on the side. There'd be no way in hell a student could do that now. However, decreasing liveability isn't an exclusively Australian phenomenon. I travel semi regularly (every couple of years) to the States for work, as well as the UK to see family, and lived in the UK for a fair while in the late 2000's. Things have definitely gone downhill in both countries, homelessness has massively increased as well as visible signs of poverty, and family experiences in the NHS over the past few years have been far from ideal (in contrast to the sterling service I received when I lived there).
What fucks me off greatly is the continual adherence to the neoliberal/ let the markets decide attitude when the level of subsidy/ bail outs from the taxpayer is ever increasing. America has the highest per capital cost of healthcare in the world so why are we heading down that path? Similarly the whole treatment of tax in Australia is a con of the highest order. And this is coming from someone who is fortunate enough to be able to salary sacrifice into super, and yet I receive a tax break for doing so. Moral of the story clearly is if you have some wealth you'll get handouts.
