The Coalition has unloaded on the Albanese government after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest interest rate decision, blaming it on Labor’s lack of fiscal responsibility.
The RBA was widely expected to reduce the cash rate on Tuesday, but Governor Michele Bullock instead announced the board decided to keep rates on hold at 3.85 per cent, stating economic conditions “remain uncertain” and the RBA was taking a “sensible cautious approach to lowering interest rates”.
Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien placed the blame squarely at the feet of the Albanese government.
“We have mortgage holders today that [are] paying about $1,900 extra every single month in interest payments than what they were a few years ago before the Albanese government came in. So people are absolutely copping it at the moment,” the Shadow Treasurer said.
“I think we’ve got to be careful here that we don’t just go out and beat up on the Reserve Bank for making a decision, we have a look at the underlying reasons that drove their decision.
“That is – inflation has been too high. And why? Because the federal government has gone on a spending spree.”
“The government is spending too much, and the economy is not growing, and that is clearly what the RBA Governor said.”
The Shadow Treasurer said the government’s last budget showed it had “zero fiscal responsibility”.
“The government’s increased spending by 17 per cent over the last two years, and so this is zero fiscal responsibility. I mean, we’re talking about federal government debt hitting a trillion dollars this year,” he said.
“The Labor Party is planning 10 years – a whole decade – of deficits. Now this limits your ability as a country to do things when there are international storms.”
The Shadow Treasurer said the fact wages were outpacing productivity was also a major problem for the economy.
“We need to go for growth. Even for the average worker… if you want to have real wage growth into the future, you need productivity.
“If we want people to have sustainable real wages, you need to have a far stronger economy.
“That’s the key message here, right? It’s people are hurting. And who’s responsible? I put it on the shoulders of the Labor government.”
Mr O’Brien said the RBA’s latest interest rate decision would not only make it harder for mortgage holders, but businesses too.
“Higher interest rates make it harder for people to borrow money to invest in businesses, but there are a lot of other factors which the government also is not addressing, which just makes it harder for businesses to grow, which is why you’ve had about 33,000 insolvencies over the last few years,” he said.
“You’ve had industries collapse, businesses close, and Australia is becoming a poorer and weaker economy, and that’s not just due to interest rates.”