What Labor Isn’t Fixing

10 February 2026 AIMN Editorial AIM Extra 11
Australian issues illustration with text and imagery.

By Denis Hay 

A calm look at unresolved problems facing Australians

Description

What Labor isn’t fixing in Australia, covering cost of living, housing, outsourcing, media power, and weakened safeguards.

Overview

This article outlines several major issues that remain unresolved under the current federal government. It does not argue party politics. It explains what is not being fixed, why it matters in everyday life, and the policy or structural choices underlying it.

1. Cost of Living Pressures That Go Beyond Inflation

The problem

Many households feel worse off even when headline inflation eases. Rent, insurance, energy, healthcare gaps, and local government charges continue to rise faster than wages and pensions.

Real-world impacts

  • Older Australians delay medical care.
  • Working families cut essentials, not luxuries.
  • Renters face constant insecurity and forced moves.

A retired renter in outer Brisbane describes skipping medical appointments to cover rent increases that arrived twice in 18 months. Their income has not changed, but essential costs now dictate daily choices. This experience is no longer unusual. It reflects a broader pattern in which policy inaction compounds financial stress rather than alleviating it.

Structural causes

  • Heavy reliance on private markets to deliver essential services.
  • Weak price oversight in sectors like insurance, energy retail, and childcare.
  • Income supports are indexed too slowly to real living costs.

Who benefits, who pays?

  • Large service providers keep margins.
  • Households absorb volatility and risk.

Policy options

  • Stronger price monitoring and transparency.
  • Index income supports to real costs, not averages.
  • Treat housing, energy, and healthcare as services first, markets second.

2. Housing Shortages Without Delivery at Scale

The problem

Housing supply is discussed frequently, but public housing construction remains modest relative to need.

Real-world impacts

  • Long social housing waiting lists.
  • Rising homelessness among older women.
  • Young people are locked out of stable housing.

Structural causes

  • Reliance on private developers to meet social needs.
  • Planning systems geared toward investor returns.
  • Loss of in-house public construction capacity.

Who benefits, who pays?

  • Landholders and developers gain from scarcity.
  • Renters and first-home seekers carry the cost.

Policy options

  • Large-scale public and community housing builds.
  • Direct government delivery, not only subsidies.
  • Long-term rental security standards nationwide.

3. Outsourcing Core Government Functions

The problem

Governments continue to outsource policy design, IT systems, service delivery, and even detention operations.

Real-world impacts

  • Cost overruns and failed projects.
  • Reduced accountability.
  • Loss of public-sector expertise.

Structural causes

  • Decades of shrinking internal capability.
  • Contract culture replacing long-term planning.
  • Weak consequences for contractor failure.

Who benefits, who pays?

  • Consulting firms and contractors.
  • Taxpayers fund repeated fixes and renegotiations.

Policy options

  • Rebuild permanent public service capability.
  • Limit outsourcing of core functions.
  • Transparent reporting on contractor performance.

4. Media Concentration and Political Risk Aversion

The problem

Australia’s media ownership is still highly concentrated, shaping political caution and narrowing debate.

Real-world impacts

  • Important reforms delayed or diluted.
  • Public confusion about policy trade-offs.
  • Fear-driven politics rather than evidence-based decisions.

Structural causes

  • Weak media diversity rules.
  • Dependence on hostile coverage cycles.
  • Lack of independent public-interest media funding.

Who benefits, who pays?

  • Dominant media companies retain influence.
  • Citizens receive less informed debate.

Policy options

  • Stronger media diversity laws.
  • Stable funding for independent journalism.
  • Clear separation between reporting and commentary.

5. Preventive Powers and Reduced Civil Safeguards

The problem

Expanded surveillance and detention powers are introduced with limited scrutiny.

Real-world impacts

  • Protest activity chilled.
  • Minority communities disproportionately affected.
  • Legal standards lowered in the name of security.

Structural causes

  • Bipartisan security escalation.
  • Limited post-legislative review.
  • Emergency powers becoming permanent.

Who benefits, who pays?

  • Security agencies gain discretion.
  • Citizens absorb long-term rights erosion.

Policy options

  • Mandatory sunset clauses.
  • Independent oversight with real teeth.
  • Clear thresholds for extraordinary powers.

What Labor Isn’t Fixing for Ordinary Australians

These unresolved issues are not abstract. They shape rent, health, job security, and trust in public institutions. The common thread is not intent, but structure: systems designed to shift risk downward and responsibility outward.

This is not a crisis of money, but of political choice.

What the Data Indicates

Available data indicate consistent trends, although precise effects vary by region and income group.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Labor not fixing in Australia?
This article outlines unresolved issues, including cost-of-living pressures, housing shortages, outsourcing of government functions, media concentration, and weakened civil safeguards.

Why do these unresolved issues matter for voters?
They affect everyday security, access to housing and services, democratic accountability, and long-term trust in government decision-making.

Further Reading

A broader catalogue of unresolved issues is available in the Labor Government Failures list on Social Justice Australia:
https://socialjusticeaustralia.com.au/labor-government-failures/

Call to Action

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Evidence & Sources

Cost of living pressures beyond headline inflation

Price oversight in essential services (energy, insurance, childcare)

Public housing delivery compared to need

Outsourcing, cost overruns, and public capability

Media concentration and market structure

Expansion of surveillance and detention powers

 

This article was originally published on Social Justice Australia


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11 Comments

  1. Labor is not fixing these problems because Labor is totally distracted to the point of being captured by external influences that have never been tested at the ballot box. The current leadership executive are unable to turn their attention to local matters so, perhaps boldly, I will state that US, UK and Israel are at the core of these distractions.

  2. We will have to wait for a Greens/Independent government before any of these things are addressed.In the meantime Albanese will keep putting roadblocks in the way of any alternatives being elected.
    We got rid of the liar Morrison,only to replace him with someone more secretive and vindictive, and just as full of shit.

  3. Harry, it is how I feel, after watching the thuggery in Sydney.

    As Mediocrates says also…

  4. The leaderships of the Labor Party both Frderslly and in NSW have forgotten who they serve. 123 members and senators but none with guts to tell the leaderships they are getting it wrong.

  5. The principal beneficiaries of the current residential housing policies are about 24,000 MILLIONAIRES who probably vote COALition ….. so why is the SLO ALBO LABOR GOVERNMENT dragging his feet??

    Is SLO ALBO trying to make Retched Mediocrity look better than himself by declining to implement the policies that will benefit Australian voters rather than foreign owned multinational corporations??

  6. Thanks for raising this, Mediocrates. External alliances and geopolitical commitments clearly consume a lot of political attention and resources, and that can affect domestic priorities. Where this article tries to stay grounded is on outcomes rather than motives, whether decisions are driven by international pressure, media influence, or internal party dynamics, the result for Australians is the same when local issues remain unresolved.

    A useful focus for readers is not which influence dominates, but whether the policy settings affecting housing, cost of living, public services, and civil liberties are actually changing in ways people can feel. That is ultimately what voters are asked to judge at the ballot box

  7. Harry
    I understand the frustration behind your comment. A lot of people feel change is being delayed or blocked, and that breeds cynicism. Where this article deliberately stops short is assigning motives or predicting which political mix will deliver outcomes.

    The core issue is whether the policy settings themselves change, regardless of who holds power. Housing supply, cost of living pressures, outsourcing, media concentration, and civil liberties can all be addressed within the current system if there is political will and public pressure.

    For readers, the useful question is less about personalities and more about what concrete changes are actually put on the table, and whether they survive the political process intact.

  8. RomeoCharlie
    Many people share that sense of disconnect between party leadership and everyday concerns. Large parliamentary parties can struggle to reflect diverse views once decisions are centralised at the leadership level.

    What matters for the purposes of this article is whether internal disagreement, wherever it exists, translates into different policy outcomes. If housing, cost of living, public services, and civil liberties are not materially improving, then leadership arrangements and party dynamics become relevant questions for voters to consider.

  9. New England Cocky
    Housing policy has clearly produced winners and losers over a long period, and asset ownership has benefited a relatively small segment of the population. That’s well documented. Where this article deliberately draws the line is on outcomes rather than motives or voting behaviour.

    The central question for voters is whether current housing settings are changing in ways that materially improve supply, affordability, and security for people who need housing to live in, not to speculate on intent. If those outcomes aren’t improving, then it’s reasonable to question why long-standing policy tools, such as direct public housing delivery or stronger rental protections, are not being used more decisively.

  11. Back to the real issues.

    Labor operates on brit New Labour doctrines that emphasise understanding and tolerance of business aspirations. A good theory developed generations ago, when trying to cope with the disintegration of (ossified?) trade unions as effective defenders of the masses interests (ecological basis, social infrastructures, employment, honest media and press, education.)

    But the conservatives under Howard got the money and Labor only got back to competetive after yielding to bsiness notions and abandoning things like ecology, rainforests, broadsheet media, education, enviro etc.

    Labor had to “sell the silver” if you like to big capitalism, to stay competitive. You could say, a little like their abandonment of principle over Palestine.

    Not Labor’s fault, but you wonder if there was any effort in some cases to propose or salvage good policy.

    The question is, did things sink to allowing the more destructive aspects of capitalism to ride roughshod over need for those choked on greed, including within the ALP itself in return for “donations”?
    A bit of donating and stuff under the table but to me, grifters raised through the ranks, lost Labor its one real asset, its reputation for integrity.

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