What’s Happening on Q+A This Week Thursday 23 June on ABC TV

This week’s Q+A is hosted by David Speers and broadcast live from Werribee, a suburb on Melbourne’s western outskirts and one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions. The focus is on the cost of living crisis.

Households across Australia are grappling with the rising cost of basic necessities as the country’s economic woes appear to be worsening. Governor Philip Lowe of the Reserve Bank of Australia admits he doesn’t know how high interest rates will go, but he has warned Australians to expect inflation to hit 7% by Christmas.

So, just how are families and small businesses coping with the price pressures? Like many communities across the country, residents in suburban areas are worried planning isn’t keeping up with growth – will there be enough jobs, early education services, schools and infrastructure to keep pace with the population boom?

Skilled worker shortages are an issue nationwide, and the new Labor Government says an unprecedented blowout in visa processing could jeopardise the COVID recovery and promising to prioritise speeding up approvals. But while there aren’t enough workers to fill job vacancies, some small businesses are worried that the recent increase in the minimum wage will add too much to the cost of doing business. How is this impacting you?

Farmers say that the minimum wage increase will only add to the already climbing cost of food and families are also bracing for an energy bill price-shock. It’s a perfect storm of economic challenges – and households are paying the price.

We’ll look at the how Australians are coping with the price squeeze and see whether our suburbs are prepared for a population boom over the coming decades. How are you coping with the cost of living? What changes have you been forced to make? And what do our suburbs need most right now as we recover from the pandemic?

All this, plus the news of the week – join us for an important discussion.

Brendan O’Connor, Minister for Skills and Training
Bridget McKenzie, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development
Gabriela D’Souza, Senior Economist, Committee for Economic Development of Australia
Lech Blaine, Writer and journalist
Alexi Boyd, CEO, Council of Small Business Organisations Australia

Airdate: Thursday 23 June 2022 at 8.30pm on ABC TV.