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.
"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.
"Is there any point that I keep studying? That I keep trying? That I keep wanting these aspirations?
"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.
"It is so bloody hard to be a young person in Australia right now: Rent is $500 a week [in Brisbane] and jobs keep getting casualised," Ms Wells said.
"I got elected in 2019. It's my first term. What staggers me is that 2019 was the first year that there were more Australians born after 1980 than before, and it was the first year that our workforce had more millennials and zoomers in it than all of the other generations combined, but we are only 10 per cent of the national parliament.
"The state of young people and their representation in our parliament is dire … so please, do not get comfortable, get elected — or find one of your peers who you think would be great to represent you and your voice and your people in parliament and get them to Canberra as soon as possible."
Minister for Employment Stuart Robert said there was still plenty of opportunity for young people.
"I've got three sons … a 14-year-old, 16-year-old and 12-year-old who constantly tell me they're stressed as well," Mr Robert said.
"With unemployment at 4 per cent and getting lower, the opportunity for a job is always there and opportunities in terms of education, for study and for travel — and pre-pandemic, over 11 million Australians travelled — so the opportunities are there.
"It's just about really embracing them, studying hard, looking for them and seeking support and help if it's needed."
Labor says lift wages, Coalition focuses on tax cuts
The answers from the representatives of the major parties did little to assuage Q+A host Stan Grant, who called on them to do more than give the guest a "pep talk" on hanging in there.
Ms Wells bristled at the suggestion that was what she was doing. She reiterated that she would like to see more young people in parliament before saying Labor would look to raise wages across the board.
"We have to lift wages and we have to give people good, secure jobs because if you can take away the worry about living day to day, what your hours look like week to week, what your pay cheque is going to do and whether you're going to stay in that job beyond the contract that you might be in, then you can start to worry about getting your life together and doing things that you want to do."
Mr Robert spoke of government tax cuts playing a part in the solution.
"It's why tax cuts are so essential — to ensure that you get more money and keep more of it," he said.
"It's why, in terms of coming forward to July 1, 2024, we [will] bring forward the next round of tax cuts that knocks out an entire tax bracket.
"There's also more going into skilling because we know if we can raise the skills of Australians, it leads to higher-paid jobs."
That answer drew criticism from Greens senator Larissa Waters, who accused the government of doing little to help the everyday Australian but making the wealthy richer.
"Everything is going up except your wages," Senator Waters said.
"But you know what else went up … the wealth of billionaires during COVID. Mining billionaires in particular doubled their wealth.
"What they could and should be doing is making TAFE and uni free. They should be putting dental and mental health care into Medicare because no-one can afford to go to the dentist and no-one can afford to pay for the mental health treatment that they need."
Government's China rhetoric called out
Australia's relationship with Solomon Islands has come under scrutiny in the past week, following the country signing a security pact with China.
On Q+A, Ms Wells accused the government of failing in one of its key areas of focus.
She also criticised comments from Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who has been speaking about war and needing to arm Australia against a possible Chinese threat.
Griffith Institute director Caitlin Byrne said it was a difficult issue given the rhetoric and expansionist policies of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"It's a really challenging environment that we're in, there's no question, and we really have to use all the levers of statecraft that we have at our disposal, and defence is a really important part of that," Professor Byrne said.
"I would question why we're talking about war in a national campaign [but] Xi is certainly using much more aggressive language than we've seen in the past.
"And we have to be very prepared for a changing environment in which China is exerting more influence, more aggressively, but I would suggest that the language we've heard recently about preparing for war hasn't necessarily been helpful for Australia's reputation.
"Although I do think we need to invest in our defence capability more than we ever have before."
Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman then criticised Mr Dutton.
"I've been disturbed about the language from Minister Dutton in the last few days," Mr Newman said.
"It's probably just my feeling is he's gone a bit too far.
"He is right to actually point out that this is a very worrying time, and the most worrying time since the 1930s, but it's not all bad.
"I think what's happened in Ukraine has been a very sobering lesson already to China in terms of the way the West has reacted."
Asked to perhaps defend his fellow minister, Mr Robert suggested the government had done the right thing by joining AUKUS and signing the much-criticised nuclear submarine deal.
He also defended the government's record on dealing with China.
"We are right to call out China's influence and what they're seeking to do," he said.
"We're right to call out the economic coercion in terms of our trade, not just across coal exports but across barley and other areas including wine. We're right to do that, we're right to call out what's happening in the Pacific Ocean."
Mr Robert said China was not playing by the standard rules in Solomon Islands, but he was rebuked by Ms Wells, who said the government had failed in an area it liked to spruik its record on.
"These Pacific countries … they talk about climate change and this minister of defence was caught laughing about water lapping at their door.
"This government did not take that key most existential threat seriously and now we're suffering the consequences of it."
Watch the full episode on iview or via the Q+A Facebook page.
