Anne TootillDebtland
March 31st 2008 21:56
After watching Four Corners 'Debtland' last night it made me feel more anxious than usual. This isn't America's sub-prime problem, it's Australia's bad debt problem. As many as 300,000 Australian households may be at risk of losing their homes.
We got to meet Dianne and her family who are frontline casualties. Their Kellyville home is being repossessed after constant refinancing landed them with two mortgages, one at 10 per cent and another – on terms they didn’t understand - at 20 per cent.
I can hear you thinking 'what fools' but I understand the Australian obsession of wanting to buy your own home, it's in the blood. At least she and her husband worked their guts out giving it a go.
We watch Dianne, her husband and their two small children lose their last ounce of dignity, having the locks changed and giving back the keys to their house. Then their hopes rise because if the auction results in a sale of $650000, they could repay all their debts. Unfortunately no bidders came forward and it was handed in.
Thank God they have a kind neighbour, they are sleeping on the floor of their double garage. It's a bit nippy this morning and I thought of this poor woman waking up on a mattress on a cold garage floor, what a nightmare.
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