Jim PavlidisCredit:.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe’s policy of increasing interest rates is making inflation worse. Many businesses have loans that now cost them much more than this time last year. Most will have passed these higher costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices. And they will continue to do so if the RBA raises interest rates more.
Three other major causes of our inflation are (1) steep rises in energy costs due primarily to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine;
(2) shortages of goods due to continued interruption of supply chains following the pandemic and the war; (3) shortages of certain foods due to our widespread floods.
Lowe needs to explain how making us pay more for our loans will combat any of the above causes of inflation. Perhaps it is time for a new version of the Prices Justification Tribunal.
Peter Harkness, Mont Albert North
When plain speaking is off the mark
Feeling a bit sorry for Philip Lowe. All Reserve Bank governors are deliberately vague with their language around interest rate decisions and the financial media and investment experts then tie themselves in knots trying to explain what they could possibly mean. Lowe finally weakened a few years ago to tell us in plain language that he expected rates to stay low for some years. He should be applauded for telling us what he really thought. Shame it was slightly off the mark.
Driving the economy into recession because of some possibly self-correcting transitory price rises might also require a mea culpa.
Peter Thomson, Brunswick
That was then, oh happy days
In the ’70s and ’80s, a 17 per cent interest rate existed side by side with 17 per cent increases in wages. It wasn’t too bad to cope with because your mortgage as a proportion of your income was continually reducing. Combined with the increasing value of properties, everyone ended up in a great position. A bit different today with wages stagnation and house values diving.
Graham Bridge, Morwell
Increases are the driver to hardship
Macroeconomic management in Australia is in a mess. The initial surge in inflation about a year ago was largely caused by temporary factors. However, an inflation mentality has become locked in, aggravated by the ability of our non-competitive companies to lift prices significantly without fear of losing market share. The Reserve Bank is seeking to kill this mentality by slowing consumer demand substantially.
The increases driven by the Reserve Bank will cause hardship to many mortgage holders and may trigger a recession. While the falls in house prices are welcome for potential first-time buyers, the cost of housing (to buy and to rent) would not have reached unattainable levels if Australia did not have negative gearing and capital gains concessions for investors, and if there had been substantial investment in public housing. If the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had stronger anti-merger and anti-collusion powers, the price-setting ability of companies would not be so great, allowing the Reserve Bank to be less blunt with interest rate rises.
Andrew Trembath, Blackburn
We are doing our bit, governor
I don’t appreciate how Philip Lowe talks about people having “savings buffers” when the Reserve Bank raises interest rates.
We have savings because we have budgeted and saved and sacrificed and are trying to pay back our loan as fast as we can. It is not your money, Dr Lowe. You didn’t save it for us so stop using this as a justification for your actions or saying people can handle it because they have savings. By saving (not spending), we are doing our part in helping you fight inflation. We aren’t the cause of the inflation yet we are the ones who have to pay for it. Why not identify those who are spending and target them. Blunt instrument, indeed.
Ashley Scroggie, St Kilda East
FORUM
Nothing to fix here
Paul Strangio (Comment, 9/2) acknowledges that Daniel Andrews has been an extremely strong and successful leader but concludes that “a change in Labor leader and premier may indeed be welcome before too long”.
I’d prefer to stick to the adage, if it ain’t broke why fix it?
Phil Alexander, Eltham
Social charter
Elizabeth Knight (Comment, 9/2) is to be commended for suggesting that Australia Post could become an organisation with a social charter. As is the case in the United States, the postal service is an arm of the federal government, and, like AusPost, the USPS is routinely one of the most trusted institutions by the public. The introduction of a social charter would end the need for inordinate bonuses among management and the self-fulfilling legacy some therein seek.
Anders Ross, Heidelberg
All hail the snail
There might be a dearth of snail mail, but we oldies are doing our best. Sympathy cards go out at the rate of three to five a week and we look forward to the “thank you” cards arriving – real life snail mail – handwriting and a stamp delivered by a bloke on a motor bike – once called “The Postie”.
Margaret Skeen, Pt Lonsdale
True to creed
Some have described Lidia Thorpe as “rogue”, her political trajectory as “wildly unpredictable”. However, Thorpe’s unswerving dedication has always been to her stated creed: “My strength and conviction comes from a lifetime of activism, from my ancestors and from my matriarchs, who continue to say to me every day, keep infiltrating, keep your integrity, keep the fire burning, keep our fight alive.”
Thorpe’s goal always was, always will be: Blak Sovereignty – whatever it takes.
Deborah Morrison, Malvern East
Accept the invitation
The 12 small paragraphs that are The Uluru Statement from the Heart contain a generous invitation. I encourage all Australians to read it and accept the invitation. A vote to recognise First Australians in the country’s Constitution requires no more detail, nor elaborate cases for Yes and No.
Russell Crellin, Greensborough
We need this Voice
I was not aware of the extent of entrenched systemic racism Indigenous Australians face daily, until, in the ’90s, I worked in an Indigenous organisation. The racism was both nuanced and blatant, with damaging longevity due to inter-generational trauma. Relatively few Australians would have been aware of this then.
My present work as a trauma-informed counsellor with Indigenous Australians reveals such systemic racism is still alive and well. It is a terrible stain on our colonial history and contemporary society.
Peter Dutton’s request to include in the Constitution, the contribution of migrants to Australian society, denies the fact that, relative to Indigenous Australians, all non-Indigenous Australians are migrants. Therefore we non-Indigenous Australians continue to be part of the problem for First Nations’ people.
The change Dutton requests would keep set in place the present status quo of deeply ingrained systemic racism against Indigenous Australians across Australia, an issue the Voice – and its eminent, balanced, broad-minded, peaceful leaders, with such experience straddling both cultures, would surely be best equipped to address.
Jennifer Gerrand, Carlton North
Knife in the heart
Lidia Thorpe’s ambition to spearhead a ″Blak sovereignty″ group will confuse and splinter support for the Voice to parliament. The aggressive address, ″call to war″, and closed-fist air-pumping during a recent demonstration on the steps of the Victorian parliament by Thorpe risks galvanising the far right who are itching for confrontation on this referendum.
Thorpe’s personal ambition has put a knife into heart of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Henry Gaughan, Richmond
Time to listen
When two former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Keating – from opposite sides of politics – warn of becoming too dependent on the US, it might be a good idea for Defence Minister Richard Marles to listen. Our drift towards becoming a de facto US colony has been evident for some time and under governments here from both sides of the fence. Time to listen and learn from the elders of the tribe.
Tony Haydon,
Springvale
No to the lapdog
No, Richard Marles. This smells of lapdog. Buying nuclear-powered subs from America is tantamount to an agreement to be in their next military adventure and puts us right in their pocket for the foreseeable future. It will be perceived by China as irredeemably siding with the US – whoever is in government there at the time – with serious implications for Australia’s trade and relationships in our region.
The issue of the subs using ″non-weapons-grade uranium″ is a red herring. The whole point of being nuclear-fuelled is so that they can travel further, for longer, ie, far from Australia and into Chinese space, potentially threatening their security.
This being the situation, why should the Chinese take Australia seriously? This does not serve Australia’s security. It’s enabling the US – and their track record is not good. We need to ditch the colonisers’ mentality.
Maggie Morgan, Northcote
Aim for respect
Your correspondent (Letters, 8/2) asks for the removal of a religious service to start parliament and replacement with something non-religious and inclusive. Ideally our federal parliamentarians both represent and reflect their electorates, two thirds of the people in which claim religious adherence of some kind.
Respect for diversity should be the aim, not symbolic secularism.
Jim Pilmer, Camberwell
Working class zero
Peter Dutton tells colleagues that he saw the Coalition as the party of the working class (″Greens push for industry fund fossil fuel bans″, 9/2). Does he really expect people to believe that, apart from his dedicated supporters, or does he live in a parallel universe?
Bill Pimm, Mentone
A creek bearing gifts
I agree with your correspondent (Letters, 9/2) regarding sections of the Moonee Ponds Creek which are, as he says a “concrete drain”. However it’s important to note that there are also sections of great beauty and the local groups have spent decades of toil in weeding, cleaning and planting. Don’t write off the creek come and enjoy its beauties and better still join with Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek to further their work. Hopefully governments will continue and extend the current remediation work and it will become a consistent area of enjoyment for local residents.
Peter Cook, Essendon
Nervous times
It is jaw-droppingly surprising to witness the rises in house interest rates. Every month we become exceedingly nervous about how much the rate will go up. House owners fear what might happen. I get jittery about it. I have a casual job and we are newly arrived migrants and my partner is pregnant. I am doubtful about the waiting period that may or may not qualify for a maternity leave payment. If that doesn’t work out as a husband I will have a tough time to pay the house repayment and put food on the table for my family. The government must find alternative ways to give solace to families.
Shiva Neupane, Thomastown
The lost compass
Your correspondent (Letters, 9/2) articulates how we continue to lose our moral compass in relation to people seeking asylum. It is outrageous that we would pay about $750,000 a day for an American company with a dubious track record to facilitate our off-shore processing for about 100 people. The government stresses the financial constraints it faces with the federal budget, yet it can spend millions to keep people rightly seeking asylum on Nauru.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading
Banking inquiry
What about an inquiry into the banks that approved home loans in the full knowledge that an inevitable return to realistic interest rates would leave borrowers underwater?
Steve Melzer, Hughesdale
Culture shift
I am just home from my friend’s funeral. Tony was killed in a front-on collision with an overtaking car near Rutherglen. The service for Tony (along with other recent cycling deaths) reinforces the need for a massive culture shift in how motorists and cyclists share our roads. How many drivers, for example, are even aware of the mandatory 1.5 metres distance they must keep from vulnerable people on bikes?
Graeme Rose, Wangaratta
Distorted gay view
Thanks Damien Woolnough (″I’m a proud gay man″, 9/2) for giving me permission to be as turned off by all the razzmatazz of the Sydney Mardi Gras as I am by crass heterosexual displays. None of my gay friends (male and female) are the slightest bit inclined towards sequins or wigs or Kylie Minogue or big boots and whips. Such events give a very distorted view of gay culture and values.
Patrice McCarthy,
Bendigo
Perfect to a Fawlty
We didn’t swear in our household. So why, 30 years ago, did I hear from the boys’ bedroom the six-year-old berate his elder brother: ″What is the point, I mean, what is the bloody point?” The tone was perfect pitch Basil Fawlty. Thank you Basil. Thanks for the memories.
Ian Whitehead, Traralgon
AND ANOTHER THING
The last post?
If you cut the product you end up with no customers. Who would have thought?
Barbara Lynch, South Yarra
With the post-mortem already completed on Australia Post, to survive as a business a rebranding might be prudent.
Joan Segrave, Healesville
Politics
Someone should be asking Peter Dutton why the former Liberal government installed the Chinese-made surveillance cameras in the first place?
Garry Meller, Bentleigh
John Howard’s song book is well past its use by date but Peter Dutton continues to sing from it.
Alan West, Research
Here we go again. The Greens kicked an own goal on Kevin Rudd’s carbon trading scheme and now another own goal for the Voice.
Michael Brinkman, Ventnor
Greater than the ″cred″ of flighty senators is the Voice, whose time has come.
Jenny Smithers, Point Lonsdale
Furthermore
Thank goodness Philip Lowe isn’t a taxi driver or we’d all have whiplash.
Terry Mattison, Mentone
I would have thought that putting spy cameras on commercial airliners would be cheaper and yield far better results than a cumbersome balloon. But then perhaps countries already do that.
David Eames-Mayer, Balwyn
Could that nationalistic Scotsman who planted thistles all along the roadsides around Drouin please take them all back home?
David Baylis, Drouin East
At risk of mentioning the war, the third season of Fawlty Towers might be a ″rejackboot″.
John Rawson, Mernda
To those fans objecting to the return of Fawlty Towers, can I suggest that you won’t have to watch it?
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne
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