For those unfamiliar with the expression, an "elephant in the room" means a major topic or controversial issue that everyone knows about but no one wants to discuss because it makes them or others uncomfortable.

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Such topics are often kicked down the road for discussion at a later date or, in some cases, never.

At present, the government has more elephants in its yard than the average zoo, and rather than dealing with them it is hoping they will become invisible, which with elephants, real or metaphorical, is nigh impossible.

The list includes the abysmal rate of the JobSeeker payment, which even the government's own economic inclusion advisory committee insists should be raised urgently. In April, around 815,000 people depended on JobSeeker and another 215,000 received youth allowance.

Imagine being a single person with no dependants, trying to extend $54 a day to cover rent, groceries and power bills. Never mind the fact that of 45,115 rental listings Australia-wide, none are affordable if you're on youth allowance and only three sharehouse rentals are affordable if you're on JobSeeker.

Nothing about this in the recent budget, though, and no explanation beyond mutterings about how the country can't afford an increase, as it risks fuelling inflation, yada yada. This is a major failure.

Another is housing, or the lack thereof. And homelessness, or the rising rate thereof. Both are the fault of........

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