DREADING next week

DH is DREADING next week.

From then on, nearly half her take home pay will be rent. As she is paid weekly, but rent is fortnightly, this means that every second week, she will have between $30 - $40 a week left after rent.

That's when TEIS, the 3 month grace period ends during which tenants who have not worked for 12 months pay the the old subsidised rate, to give them a chance to catch up. It's a DOH version of Centrelink's Working Credit Scheme.

DH appreciates how fortunate she is compared to renters in the private market of course. Let us hope that populist politicians will not use this to divide and rule by siccing the lower classes, (which now includes the middle class) against each other to fight for housing which should not be this scarce in a wealthy country like Australia.

Here's another thing. She can't afford her medications and has been razorblading them by half, which means she is not in the best of shape, and to make matters worse, she has to take a new drug which is not on the PBS, as the old one has been withdrawn from the US market for its risk of heart and lung damage. The new drug would cost her $150 a month.

Not complaining for her own sake, but as an indicator of the GODAWFUL housing, and health, mess 10 years of Howard has left for the country.