Young Australians' concerns about rising inflation, the housing crisis, and the casualisation of the workforce came to the fore on Q+A on Thursday night.
Audience member Jayde Curtis, 20, told the panel at the Brisbane Powerhouse she feared for her future, and even whether there would be one for her and the younger generation of Australians who were battling. "I live in a constant state that I won't be able to afford fuel in my car or be able to put groceries or ever get a house," Ms Curtis said.
"Not only this, but there's talk of war, there's talk of running out of fuel, and there's also still living through COVID."Australia used to be a place that I was very happy to say I was a part of and I saw many ambitions here. Should I just get comfortable in this pay-cheque-to-pay-cheque sort of lifestyle or shall I keep going?"
It was a question that brought a sympathetic response from Labor MP Anika Wells, albeit one that lacked a real solution, with her suggesting that Ms Curtis get elected to federal parliament at 20 years of age, as Coalition MP Wyatt Roy did in 2010 in the seat of Longman in the Moreton Bay region of Queensland.