One of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs blames immigration policies for the country’s economic woes.
Matt Barrie, founder and CEO of Freelancer.com, told Daily Mail Australia that the “runaway, uncontrolled mass immigration program” is having a domino effect on the rest of the country that will only end in “economic disaster”.
In September, Australia welcomed an average of 2,000 people per day, compared to over 500,000 arrivals last year.
Although the Albanian government announced a drop in immigration in June, Barrie said the housing supply problem has yet to be solved.
Increasing demand, in the face of lack of supply, has driven rental, residential and commercial real estate markets to record highs.
“It’s completely out of control. Housing costs are driving up rents, which is driving up rents for businesses,” he said.
‘This comes at a huge cost and squeezes money out of Australians and their businesses.
“This is no longer a functioning society.”
Freelancer.com CEO Matt Barrie (above) has warned that Australia is heading for financial ruin thanks to the Albanian government’s “rampant, uncontrolled mass immigration program”.
The businessman said prices would become affordable if the Albanian government closed the borders instead of continuing to stimulate demand.
“It is mathematically impossible to buy houses on current wages in many places, particularly in Sydney, parts of Melbourne and even the regions,” he said.
‘In Sydney it takes 46 years to save money for a house, probably more like 50 years.
‘A house in Woollahra (eastern Sydney) recently sold for $18 million, which is the equivalent of a 2024 yacht.’
The increased rents have also meant that essential workers such as first responders, police officers and teachers are unable to work in their workplaces, Mr Barrie said.
He believes the Reserve Bank of Australia has an “obligation” to keep interest rates lower than in other countries and maintain the strong housing market.
“The RBA should have raised interest rates significantly higher than it did,” Barrie said.
“But they know that if they keep raising rates, it will potentially lead to defaults in the housing market.”
Mr Barrie said the RBA ‘should have raised interest rates significantly higher than they have’
If we prevent the market from collapsing and fail to address the interest rate issue, inflation could continue to rise and affect all Australians, Barrie said.
He cited the government’s audacity in fighting inflation and “projecting Zimbabwe,” where hyperinflation in 2008 halved the value of the African country’s currency every day.
While Australians may now be feeling the pressure, Barrie believes the economy is on the brink of collapse without diversified industries.
“We used to produce cars, in the 80s we had a manufacturing industry,” he said.
‘All we do now is trade beautiful houses as if they were paintings.’
The CEO added that if inflation or the housing market are not controlled, the Australian economy could collapse under the weight of unpaid debt, similar to the Great Financial Crisis (stock image)
He said the big banks “do nothing but make mortgages” and would buckle under pressure if the market wobbled.
“If you look at every market in the world that has had a property bubble, at some point people will default on their mortgages,” Barrie said.
‘During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), US interest rates suddenly went from three percent to about eight percent. We’re almost there now.
‘About $350 billion worth of mortgages were taken out during the Covid pandemic at an interest rate of about two percent.
‘People have gone completely crazy buying big houses that they can’t afford at normal interest rates.
‘Now banks want to offer mortgages with a term of 50 years and postpone the situation even further.’
Mr Barrie added that it was ridiculous that Australia was in economic trouble, given its natural resources, relatively small population and population density.
“We have the same amount of coal and twice as much uranium as Saudi Arabia, yet our energy prices are exorbitant,” he said.
‘We cannot talk about nuclear power plants because this has consequences for renewable energy projects.
‘We could be much better off focusing on nuclear energy and using more conventional forms of energy generation, but we have let energy prices go through the roof.
“We should be the richest country in the world per capita, but we have failed miserably.”
