The idea of allowing early access to superannuation for housing has recently resurfaced in public debate. As the Treasurer noted, an Australian Labor Party policy document from the 1993 election included a policy to provide early access to superannuation for housing deposits. While home-owners can currently access superannuation early to avoid mortgage default, the idea of using superannuation for housing deposits was examined in some detail by both sides of politics in the 1990s. This FlagPost provides a high-level chronology of major announcements and reviews, and a brief discussion of decreasing housing affordability reflected in the ‘deposit gap’ measure. Read more...
According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR ‘the Syrian situation is the most dramatic humanitarian crisis the world has faced in a very long time. Syrians are now the largest refugee population under UNHCR's mandate’. In fact, the UNHCR estimates there to be close to four million registered refugees who have fled Syria into neighbouring countries. David Miliband, writing in The Washington Post has recently claimed that ‘it is well past time for the United States and other Western countries to commit to a dramatic boost in the resettlement of Syrian refugees’. Filipe Gracio from Kings College, London has similarly been crunching the numbers and concluded that ‘Ge... Read more...
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