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A WODONGA mother’s letter blasting Joe Hockey for his advice to first-home owners has gone viral with thousands of people sharing it online.
In two days, the letter, which broke down the figures for the federal Treasurer, was shared by 20,000 people on Facebook — and she wants it to go all the way to Parliament.
Mel Wilson wrote to Mr Hockey about his advice to first-home buyers that they should “get a good job that pays good money”.
As someone who works in two senior HR roles and took just four weeks off to have her two children, Miss Wilson knows the challenges associated with buying a first home.
She said although she was paid well and saved diligently for her first home, she still had to borrow from family to afford the deposit.
“The government needs to stop making ridiculous and uneducated comments and, hopefully, this letter will put pressure on the government to see how out of touch they are with the average Australian,” Miss Wilson said.
“I know how hard it was for me to get into the housing market.”
People have responded directly to Miss Wilson on Facebook from all over Australia and even New Zealand.
After 10 years in HR, she said she had a good understanding of qualifications, job availability and award wages.
She said after she had heard the Mr Hockey’s comments, she has sat down for a couple of hours researching information for her letter.
“I wanted to create awareness for the government to understand that awards for several industries need to change,” she said.
“Where are these good jobs that pay such good money?
“They also need to increase the first home owners grant to assist with the lenders mortgage insurance cost.”
In her correspondence, she uses “Joe Junior” to explain to Mr Hockey the average income in relation to the average deposit for a first-home buyer in Sydney.
She then proceeds to tell him that for a “good job”, Joe Junior would also need a university degree that takes about three to four years and comes with a HECS-HELP debt.
So if he were to finish university, get a job on the average wage straight out of study and save every single dollar he earned, Miss Wilson concluded it would take Joe Junior four more years to have the money for a deposit.
But even then, it is unlikely he could afford the mortgage repayments.
She then signed the letter: “Regards, another baffled Australian.”