8 September 2011

Canberra the most expensive of them all?

| johnboy
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Liberal Leader Zed Seselja has leaped upon ABS data he says shows Canberra is more expensive to live in than Perth (or any other city in Australia):

“In 2009-10, Canberra couple families with dependent children spent $760 per week on average on essentials like fuel ($58.40), groceries ($316.17), transport ($275.42) and medical care ($110.02),” ACT Opposition Leader Zed Seselja said today.

“This is in stark comparison to the $666 spent by these families in Queensland, and $678 in Victoria.

“Shockingly, Canberra is even more expensive than the mining-boom town of Perth.

“These figures show that ACT’s cost of essentials are the highest in the country. The Canberra Liberals are committed to helping alleviate these pressures for Canberrans who are facing 68 per cent more tax since ACT Labor came to power in 2001.

“It’s why we’ve been calling on ACT Labor to consider the cost of living implications in their polices, which they refuse to do.

“Instead, Katy Gallagher’s suggesting Canberrans under financial strain ‘cancel their Foxtel for a while’.”

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LSWCHP said :

This average family must be scooting around on a Vespa or something. For as long as I can remember it’s cost me around $80 to fill up my 4 cylinder Camry each week. My wife also has a car, but she drives less, as I do most of the taxi work to to sporting events, shopping trips, social outings etc. Still, we’d be looking at around $130 per week in fuel costs.

Regardless of all that, I’d still like an explanation of what the difference is between fuel and transport.

A quick read of the figures shows that the $58 in fuel is included in the total transport cost. You can download the raw data from the link in OP, which has a breakdown in great detail. (Who knew they collected stats on how much each household spends on different types of meat.. lamb, pork, beef, mince, etc)

This is an average cost, so while it might cost you twice as much as the average, your elderly neighbour who doesnt own a car spends $0/week, so between the two of you the average is $130. The figures also show that the average household spends $1.71 on diesel and 49c on LPG. If one in 30 households have a vehicle runs on diesel, then what they spend averages out for the other 29 non-diesel vehicle households.

poetix said :

medical care $110.02 per week…

Do most people spend this much on a regular basis? I suddenly feel healthier.

The figures as suggested above include health insurance, but also toothpaste, sunscreen, glasses, and non-prescribed ointments and lotions. This isnt what ‘most people spend’, this is the average of what everyone spends. You might spend very little, while a cancer patient or a family with a new baby might be spending significantly more.

MrMagoo said :

Is Zed serious? Extrapalation of data is one thing but to drive it into a political arguement to support a viewpoint is another. Does he also not know that on average, the ACT has a higher per capita income?

Well mostly, yes. ACT teachers are amongst the lowest paid in Australia.

This average family must be scooting around on a Vespa or something. For as long as I can remember it’s cost me around $80 to fill up my 4 cylinder Camry each week. My wife also has a car, but she drives less, as I do most of the taxi work to to sporting events, shopping trips, social outings etc. Still, we’d be looking at around $130 per week in fuel costs.

Regardless of all that, I’d still like an explanation of what the difference is between fuel and transport.

Is that fuel as in petrol? So what is the $275.42 on transport? Car loans? Parking? MyWay (for a very large family maybe?). Or flights?

‘Medical care’ no doubt includes health insurance @ $50+/wk for a family.

medical care $110.02 per week…

Do most people spend this much on a regular basis? I suddenly feel healthier.

So I pay a $100 more so as not to have to live in Queensland, Victoria, or the mining-boom town of Perth.

Great, bargain, worth it.

zippyzippy said :

Ok, so we vote Zed in. Now, what does he do to make all these costs come down? Seriously, I would love to know.

That was my point. The Liberals leap to the fax to churn out MR copy about hwo ‘agast’ they are but I’ve yet to see anything from them to say well tat’s a viable alternative Government right there. Without looking closely at the figures Chairman Zed is channeling, I’d have to say his drawing a very rough line. We have friends and family in Sydney and there’s no way known to man its dearer to live in Canberra than in suburban Sydney, no way known.

MrMagoo said :

DermottBanana said :

MrMagoo,
One can’t accuse the Canberra Liberals of not offering alternatives. After all, when the Libs got into power nationally, in 1996, they certainly did a lot for housing affordability in this city – by sacking thousands of people, and creating a glut in the market as everyone tried to sell their houses and go elsewhere.
So they’ve got the runs on the board for those of us with long enough memories.
🙂

Seems between Tony’s hatchet Man Joe Hockey and his NSW counterpart Big Bad Bustling Barry O, there’ll be real estate applenty in as PS jobs get chopped.

Except Howard then oversaw the biggest ballooning of the APS, mainly at the EL1 and above level…

Ok, so we vote Zed in. Now, what does he do to make all these costs come down? Seriously, I would love to know.

Add to that the cost of rent/mortgage repayments and you’ll see that Canberra is by far the most expensive city in Australia. And for what? It’s a nice city to look at, but we lack some of the things worth paying for – like good hospitals and transport, for starters.

I love this city, but the rising cost of living here is almost outweighing the benefit.

DermottBanana said :

MrMagoo,
One can’t accuse the Canberra Liberals of not offering alternatives. After all, when the Libs got into power nationally, in 1996, they certainly did a lot for housing affordability in this city – by sacking thousands of people, and creating a glut in the market as everyone tried to sell their houses and go elsewhere.
So they’ve got the runs on the board for those of us with long enough memories.
🙂

Seems between Tony’s hatchet Man Joe Hockey and his NSW counterpart Big Bad Bustling Barry O, there’ll be real estate applenty in as PS jobs get chopped.

Holden Caulfield11:50 am 08 Sep 11

But the footy finals and the RWC are about to start. I can’t cancel my Foxtel now!

DermottBanana said :

MrMagoo,
One can’t accuse the Canberra Liberals of not offering alternatives. After all, when the Libs got into power nationally, in 1996, they certainly did a lot for housing affordability in this city – by sacking thousands of people, and creating a glut in the market as everyone tried to sell their houses and go elsewhere.
So they’ve got the runs on the board for those of us with long enough memories.
🙂

You say it like it’s a bad thing. Cleaning house was very good for the PS, and the lobs built it up to a much larger capability over the years after anyway.

DermottBanana11:10 am 08 Sep 11

MrMagoo,
One can’t accuse the Canberra Liberals of not offering alternatives. After all, when the Libs got into power nationally, in 1996, they certainly did a lot for housing affordability in this city – by sacking thousands of people, and creating a glut in the market as everyone tried to sell their houses and go elsewhere.
So they’ve got the runs on the board for those of us with long enough memories.
🙂

Is Zed serious? Extrapalation of data is one thing but to drive it into a political arguement to support a viewpoint is another. Does he also not know that on average, the ACT has a higher per capita income? I think at times the Liberals happen upon some figures ad try to swing it their way. What I’m looking for from an alternative Government is options not just rhetoric about ‘the Canberra Liberals this… and that…’ They bleat and moan but they don’t offer anything as an alternate.

Well Canberra being more expensive than other cities is one conclusion you could come to.

The other is that Canberrans are on average richer than citizens of any other city in Australia, and subsequently choose to spend more money on stuff.

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