Extract from ABC News
Analysis
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to deliver a significant National Press Club speech today where he will outline his government's agenda. (ABC News: Matt Roberts )
It is time to put to bed the war on baby boomers and acknowledge where power now increasingly exists.
Generation X is overwhelmingly in charge of government and increasingly holding the wealth.
We are on the cusp of the death of the "OK boomer" memes that flooded the internet and the rise of "oh no! it's the Xers".
Gen X might need to stop hiding from scrutiny too. The millennial pile on our boomer elders has largely meant generation X is the most ignored generation with a quiet accumulation of power. It's also the most unacknowledged generation — a generation that has presided over the digital revolution and has had to overhaul how they work and how they raise families. Ask any gen Xer and they won't report a life of relaxation. They have been smashed by change even as they've quietly presided over it.
Baby boomer Anthony Albanese with members of his cabinet and generation X Richard Marles, Mark Butler and Jason Clare. (ABC News: Mark Roberts )
A study of the Albanese government ranks shows that the vast majority of those in the cabinet and ministry are gen Xers. Only the PM and two others — Trade Minister Don Farrell and Assistant Minister for Social Services Ged Kearney — are baby boomers.
While the recent reshuffle increased the numbers of millennials — the numbers show the government is overwhelmingly run by gen Xers. In fact all the key positions including the treasurer, the finance minister and the foreign minister are held by X-ers.
A massive 31 members of the Albanese ministry are generation X with around eight millennials (that includes Clare O'Neil who really is a cusp generation member and a "xennial" in my estimation).
Across the aisle in the Coalition, baby boomers are also on the decline. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is a boomer, as is Kevin Hogan, Melissa Price and Anne Ruston. There are 26 gen Xers including Tim Wilson who is a xennial and six millennials in their frontbench ranks.
Generation X in this column's definition includes those born between 1965 and 1980, a generation that didn't enjoy the largesse afforded to baby boomers but would have found it easier to enter the property market than younger generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment