Why this photo of a cafe worker has sparked a major debate about Australia's future

As the cost of living crisis bites Australians even harder, a top real estate guru has revealed the depressing reality of home ownership.

In a video posted to social media, Tom Panos was sitting in a cafe and referenced the young worker behind him. 

'See the guy behind us, I know what he's making… $20 or $30 an hour, works his a*** off,' Mr Panos said.

'If this guy starts saving up, he'll be able to get a deposit for a property when he's 63 years of age.

'Yeah, you've got everyone worrying about Brittany Higgins, and this guy is going to have to work for 45 years just to get a deposit.'

Mr Panos ended his video with a wake-up call to the Albanese government, telling them to get real about how average wage earners will never be able to afford a home.

'Look at what you're making people do to buy real estate. Make the main thing... housing.'

Many Aussies agreed with Mr Panos.

One said: 'Considering leaving Australia with my wife and three kids so we have a future. The country is cooked. Done paying 70 per cent of our income for housing.'

A second added: 'Government has lost the Australian dream.' 

A third said:  'Government needs to develop and sell land at very low prices for first home buyers. That's the only way price will drop.'

The Albanese government pledged to build 1.2million new homes within five years under a plan announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, but data shows this is on track to fail. 

Labor also promised to halve immigration numbers from July, which are contributing to the housing shortage and sky-high rents.

However, official data showed that net migration hit an unprecedented 105,000 people in February, which is a nearly 20 per cent increase on the previous record, and there were even more in the month before.

Meanwhile, ABC economics guru Alan Kohler highlighted several challenges facing the Albanese government's efforts to address the housing crisis.

'It's too late to deal with the demand surge from immigration because it has already happened, and will take years to work through,' Mr Kohler wrote in an article for The New Daily.

'And no one wants to tackle negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, and in any case, investors who use those tax concessions are deserting the housing market right now because even with them and sky-high rents the returns from capital gains are unlikely to be good enough because anyone can see house prices can't rise any more. Can they?

'As for the supply of new housing, governments can have all the accords and targets they want, but they don't build houses, or at least not many, developers and builders do, and building houses is a terrible business.'

He called on Minister for Housing and Homelessness  and Small Business Julie Collins to protect builders and developers being preyed on by state governments. 

He said this would lead to an increase in the number of builders and in turn, more houses being built.

He wrote the cost of building a house has increased dramatically, as state governments impose huge taxes on new housing, especially in Victoria.

Mr Kohler wrote builders are marginal businesses that are unprotected and over-regulated, and the insurance they are required to pay is exorbitant.

Builders must agree to a fixed end price for something that takes a year to construct, they have no control of input prices and have to deal with desperate customers, he wrote.