This magazine pointed out the low IQ of the current federal cabinet shortly after the election of the Albanese government in May 2022, asserting that it was probably the ‘least intelligent government in Australia’s history’. As time has gone on, we have seen no need to revise that assessment.

We’ve had the idiocy of a Climate Change and Energy Minister who believes that unless his destructive policies are enacted in full then the world will end in a catastrophic fiery inferno, or some such. The same man is now blithely flying around the planet spending millions of dollars (and untold emissions) on pointless climate junkets. We’ve had a Finance Minister who appeared to struggle to understand the difference between gross and net, and is quite happy to label money that has been spent elsewhere as ‘savings’. We’ve had a Prime Minister who thinks it’s clever politics to insult the female conservative leader of Japan, one of our most important allies, by joking about her ‘melons, two of them’ with accompanying schoolboy hand gestures. We’ve had a Treasurer who claimed he could ‘re-invent capitalism’. (Yes, Jim, it’s called socialism.) Now we’ve got a minister who thinks that paying your mortgage on time guarantees the value of your home.

It was Bill Clinton who immortalised the phrase ‘It’s the economy, stupid’. A more apt version for Australia would be ‘It’s the stupid economy’. By any metric you choose this nation’s finances are in terrible shape and can only get worse. Our regular columnist David Flint has long warned that we are on the road to becoming an antipodean Venezuela or Argentina, a nation blessed with an abundance of natural resources that through sheer stupidity  ends up an impoverished basket case.

Sadly for younger generations, the opportunity to accrue individual wealth and prosperity has disappeared under the Albanese government. The way to make housing more affordable, according to these Labor geniuses, is simply to crash the housing market. This is the equivalent of the toddler winning a game of chess by tipping the entire board over. Yet certain Labor ministers and commentators are now approving of  the collapse of the housing market, with News24’s Stephen Conroy (speaking on The Bolt Report) proclaiming that it is a binary choice: you either have a buoyant housing market or you have affordable housing. You can’t have both, according to this flawed analysis.

Such thinking is popular on the left, because that is how Labor always views the world – as if the nation’s wealth belongs to the Labor party (or more accurately, to the unions and the large superannuation funds) and the government’s job is to simply re-distribute it in whatever way suits the party’s ideological priorities. This zero-sum game is the cornerstone of the left’s entire approach to our economy.

Oddly, Mr Conroy seemed to also suggest that because Labor’s thieving CGT and negative gearing policies don’t come into effect for another ten months, they cannot in any way be held responsible for the current downturn in the housing market. Perhaps someone needs to explain the concept of ‘consumer confidence’ to Labor’s strategists and spin doctors.

Students of history will be well aware that there is an alternative to this depressing and dead-end approach. Namely, the age-old belief that a rising tide can lift all boats. This is the traditional conservative or centre-right approach: firstly, create a strong economy and keep immigration at sensible levels, thereby ensuring the demand side of the housing equation stays strong but does not get out of hand. (Labor do the opposite.) Secondly, remove as much red and green tape as possible to ensure the supply side of housing stock is constantly topped up through private investment and continual development. (Labor do the opposite.) Thirdly, ensure cheap, plentiful and reliable energy to assist national productivity and prosperity by guaranteeing as many large and small businesses as possible can thrive without subsidies whilst allowing individuals to enrich themselves through opportunity, initiative and hard work. (Labor do the opposite.)

Take all three steps and – bingo! As if by magic, you will now have a growing economy which will ensure private property and homes increase in value over time whilst also ensuring those young and eager enough to do so can afford to invest in their own homes, safe in the knowledge that their ‘nest egg’ will grow over time. (Labor have done the precise opposite.)

In the past week, we have heard from a confusion of Labor ministers, some maintaining the housing market collapse is a good thing, others insisting the housing market is still buoyant and lucrative.

Alas, according to recent reports in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, ‘Sydney’s housing market slump, fuelled by Labor’s recent federal budget tax reforms, has slashed home prices across much of the city, but has still failed to improve affordability for those who need it the most – first-home buyers.’

Under the Chalmers Reinventing Capitalism Model, this government has deliberately trashed confidence in the housing market so that although housing may appear cheaper on paper, there is no incentive to develop and invest. Sadly, all this means is that rents will climb, but if you do fork out for your own home, there is no guarantee that your investment will increase to any meaningful extent over time. Therefore, why bother? And so the road to Venezuela continues unabated.

Great job, Jimbo.