The oldest profession
By Janet Fraser
Outsiders who come to Paddington often assume that any flashily dressed man on the street is a real estate agent. "Even my father's been approached. It's foul", says Andrew Powell, a 19-year-old student.
In similar communities across Australia, people incensed by the conspicuous wealth, property and water views brought by real estate agents are fighting back.
Such activity is not limited to Australia. In London people are considering a policy of "outing" clients of agents following the arrest of a public prosecutor, charged with gutter crawling in a street of agents' premises. Charges were later dropped but the stench will stay forever.
The ABC's Couchpotato recently ran a detailed program dealing with problems associated with the property industry. Queensland is considering legalising the industry and strictly regulating it in an attempt to screen out the bad elements. The model is Victoria, where some licensed agents have been setting up positively palatial premises and in the case of one establishment, sponsoring the local football team. In Victoria, houses of up to 10 agents are allowed but street vending is forbidden.
"Personally I find the sight of such excessive wealth and cheesy smiles highly offensive", says Ed Mile, morals crusader who feels a greater issue is at stake. "The Bible gives us obvious precedents where property is concerned. Adam and Eve did not sell the Garden of Eden, God asked them to leave. He didn't publicly auction it to the highest bidder. And property which Adam and Eve owned later wasn't sold. They left it to their children as is only right. The disposal of property is a matter for decent married couples and should be kept within the family."
The encroaching of agents on areas with schools and young families is seen as especially dangerous. Young people seeing such easy money made may fall into a descending spiral of greed and acquisition. "We don't want this right in front of our homes when we're trying to raise kids", says Beverley Rogers, mother of six-year-old Jo-Lee.
According to Gerald Arnott, executive director of the American Federation of Police, the property industry is growing as men strive to protect their eating habit during the recession. "Unfortunately nothing will get rid of the problem", Arnott says. "You'd think fear of transmitted wealth would stop them, but it obviously doesn't."
Robert Bing of the Real Estate Agents Foundation says the community is judging agents too harshly. "We just want to make a living the same as everybody else. A lot of us have wives and kids to feed too." He is opposed to legalisation and favours decriminalisation. "The laws must be wiped from the statute books. What other industry is threatened with such strict government control? The community needs to be educated about agents and the property industry so the myths about sharp, fast agents can be demolished now, forever."
So it would appear the problem is here to stay. The legalisation debate will continue in Australia but the problems of the property industry seem insurmountable. Can workers in such a high cash turnover industry be trusted to regulate themselves? Perhaps the only option is to legalise, strictly control and thus ensure the community's high moral stand is not compromised.