A prominent author and baby boomer has lashed out at younger Aussies who blame his generation for their economic woes.
Clive Hamilton, 70, and his daughter Myra told readers it has “become a crime to be born in the 20 years since the Second World War”, claiming “generational warmongers” had set their targets on baby boomers.
The Hamiltons used the op-ed to debunk some of the “toxic” myths surrounding baby boomers, showing how many people actually received a free college education, and demonstrating that a large majority are not cutting through their children’s inheritance , as is often claimed.
They also refuted claims that Boomers are responsible for the state of the housing market, for fueling inflation and for being responsible for rising rents.
Mr Hamilton is professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University and a member of the Order of Australia, while his daughter is an associate professor at the University of Sydney researching gender, aging and care.
Prominent Australian academic, author and Baby Boomer Clive Hamilton (pictured) has taken aim at younger ‘generational warmongers’ who blame his generation for their economic hardship
The Hamiltons told readers that less than 10 percent of his generation benefited from the “fabulous free college education,” with the majority coming from upper- and middle-class families.
Fees for education at university level were abolished in 1970 by Gough Whitlam’s Labor government to make education more accessible to the working and middle classes.
“That was the reason for HECS, so that low-income people would no longer subsidize middle-class children to get the high-paying jobs,” said the op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald is reading.
Free tertiary education was replaced by HECS, Higher Education Contribution Scheme, by the Hawke Labor government in 1989, after more Aussies turned to universities to further their education.
Baby boomers, especially those in their late 60s who are part of the builder subgeneration, still have the lowest percentage of college graduates: less than 10 percent.
With each generation after the Baby Boomers, the number of people graduating from college has continued to increase, with as many as 1 in 2 Generation Zs likely to earn a degree in the future.
Education myth
“SKI” myth
The Hamiltons went on to bust the “toxic myth of skiing,” saying that Boomers vilified for hoarding financial resources would instead be responsible for a massive intergenerational transfer of wealth.
“Over the next few decades, Boomers will leave a massive $3.5 trillion in assets to their children, the same children they so thoughtlessly oppressed,” he wrote.
A 2021 Productivity Commission report found that around $3.5 trillion, mainly property and pensions, would be passed on through inheritance by 2050.
That figure will only increase over time, with the current $120 billion inherited per year expected to rise to $500 billion by the same year.
The Hamiltons also noted that while the housing market is “shockingly inequitable,” the fastest growing demographic group to become homeless is not those in their 20s, but instead “women over 55, baby boomers.”
“There are rich Boomers and there are poor Boomers and a lot in between. This fake conflict is responsible for enormous bitterness out there,” they wrote.