Perhaps the biggest political issue in Australia over the last 12 months has been the cost of living.
Indeed, it probably goes back more than 12 months, and all other issues pale insignificance beside it.
In fact, other issues that come up in discussion often are just a variation on ‘cost of living.’
What has made ‘net zero’ such a hot issue in the second half of this year is the clear connection between the pursuit of net zero and the cost of living.
The issue is looming big in America as well.
Although in the United States the big question is what Donald Trump’s manoeuvrings over tariffs and trade deals has done to the cost of groceries in American shops.
But in America they don’t use our phrase ‘cost of living’—instead they seem always to talk about
affordability.'
Recently USA Today newspaper ran this report: ‘President Donald Trump blasted Democrats during his ninth Cabinet meeting for complaining about inflation after prices have fallen for products such as gasoline and groceries, part of a broader lament that his administration wasn’t getting the credit it deserved.
“The word affordability is a con job by the Democrats,” Trump said Dec. 2. “The word affordability is a Democrat scam.”
So, where does this word ‘affordability come from?
And should it be part of the political debate here in Australia?
The meaning of the word is obvious enough (‘the quality of being affordable; inexpensiveness’ Oxford English Dictionary.)
And it’s a 20th century word—first recorded in 1910.
The big American dictionary, the Merriam-Webster, adds the following as the background story: ‘The adjective affordable, from which affordability was formed, dates to the mid-1600s, while affordability has been in use since the early 1900s. Both words, of course, come from the verb afford, which can be traced all the way back to the Old English verb geforðian, “to send out, promote, carry out.”
If the Liberal picks up on this, will ‘affordability’ be a key political word in 2026? Watch this space!
Tonight, I will be a panellist on 'The Sunday Showdown' -- on Sky News (8pm AEDT). It's the last 'Sunday Showdown' for the year, so don't miss it! (My intention is to have a crack at those horrible tattoos that people smother their bodies with these days!)
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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