Australian living standards have fallen more than 10 per cent in the past two years. And yes, you read that right. Prices have sprinted ahead of wages. Mortgage rates have soared. And so has the tax take, with personal tax now at a record share of incomes.

Much of the world has seen similar pain, but Australia’s drop in our living standards is bigger than most – and larger than anything we’ve seen in past recessions. No wonder the electorate is grumpy.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney on Wednesday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

While optimism has been returning for several months across the United States, Europe and New Zealand, families in Australia are almost as sour as we were back when COVID was at its scariest.

Yet while your pockets are empty, government coffers are full. So why don’t they do more to help?

You’ll be glad to hear Prime Minister Anthony Albanese just asked Treasury for ideas to “take pressure off families on cost of living without putting pressure on inflation”.

But that’s easier said than done. After all, if governments had a magic wand to improve family incomes without also boosting........

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