And up they go again…
It is doubly annoying having to listen to yet another Liberal party ad about how interest rates will be higher under Labor because of "union fanatics" "environmental extremists" and learner leaders, when we have now had yet another interest rise (the sixth since 2004) and the prediction is that the rates will keep on going up. Howard's solution is to boast about strong economy and bleat about his economic management credentials. Given that both the interest rates and prices for essential goods are growing at an alarming rate, those of us not earning $300K a year may think that an overheating economy is not so great.
And what is Howard's great plan to stop interest rates hitting 10% or more? Give people more tax cuts. That's right, create more inflationary pressures so the interest rates go up even further and for each dollar we get by virtue of tax cuts we have to shell out ten dollars to cover the additional mortgage repayments.
In the interests of fairness - Labor is not necessarily better. Rudd adopted Howard's plan for tax cuts. If they are elected and implement it, they would be just as much to blame for the subsequent rise in interest rates as Howard. The fact that Rudd keeps on reminding us about Howard's broken promise that he'll keep interest rates low is all good and well - we need a little dose of reality to counteract the blatantly misleading election campaign strategies of the Libs - but pointing the finger at Howard is not good enough. Rudd must be able to show why his party would be an improvement. Admitting that the planned $32 billion in tax-cut would put further pressure on interest rates would be a start. Ditching the plan would be even better, but I wouldn't bank on it in an election year.
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