The Black Friday sales are the realm of glossy promotions and feel-good savings, but they come with a dark backstory.
While hard-working Victorians will no doubt take advantage of this week’s wall-to-wall sales, the shiny specials do nothing to hide the cost-of-living crisis.
The reality is Victorians will be desperately trying to put gifts under the Christmas tree for loved ones, and Black Friday is nothing but a brief respite. A false dawn.
Credit card debt, sadly, will no doubt rise.
The national debt helpline has recorded a staggering 47 per cent increase in calls from Victorians.
No amount of Black Friday marketing can distract from that alarming number.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan can’t manage money, can’t manage projects and can’t manage to reduce the cost-of-living crisis biting so hard.
Since 2014, Labor has presided over more than $30 billion in major project cost blowouts — Jacinta Allan was the responsible minister for almost 90 per cent of it.
They are big numbers, and the premier can attempt to sweep them away and move on, but the cold reality of household costs is much tougher to swallow for everyday Victorians.
Earlier this year, Anglicare announced that single parents were falling short $180 every week, and families of four only had $73 after paying essential weekly expenses.
Energy costs have soared by 25 per cent; the average family is being forced to spend $1565 more on groceries; Foodbank has seen a 40 per cent increase in demand; interest rates have kept skyrocketing; a new health tax is adding up to $20 to the cost of a GP visit — the list goes on, and on, and on.
Black Friday will provide some pre-Christmas relief, but we’re all facing a nasty hangover.
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