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‘That will be hard, we understand that’: PM addresses interest rate hike
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has addressed the Reserve Bank’s decision to raise the cash rate for the first time since November 2010.
The RBA lifted the official interest rate to 0.35 per cent this afternoon, pointing to rising inflation.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit:James Brickwood
“For those that are paying more, that will be hard, and we understand that,” Mr Morrison said.
“The Reserve Bank has made a very important statement about where we are now in our journey out of this pandemic,” Mr Morrison said.
“Australians have been preparing for this for some time.
“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen them double the buffers on their mortgages, switch [to fixed interest rates] and strengthen their balance sheets in preparation.”
Mr Morrison said the government had helped individuals and businesses through “tax deductions” in the latest budget.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said global factors including the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were driving up inflation.
“It had to normalise. It’s actually a reflection of an economy coming back to life after the pandemic,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Watch live: PM Scott Morrison responds to RBA interest rate hike
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg are addressing the media in Melbourne. Watch it live here:
More rate rises to come: RBA Governor
By Rachel Clun
RBA Governor Phil Lowe confirmed there will be more rate rises ahead, after lifting the official interest rate for the first time since November 2010.
“The economy has proven to be resilient and inflation has picked up more quickly, and to a higher level, than was expected. There is also evidence that wages growth is picking up,” he said.
“Given this, and the very low level of interest rates, it is appropriate to start the process of normalising monetary conditions.”
Lowe noted the strong labour market - with unemployment expected to fall to 3.5 per cent by early 2023 - strong economic growth and higher than expected inflation as reasons for the move. The RBA expects inflation to rise further in the near future.
“The Board is committed to doing what is necessary to ensure that inflation in Australia returns to target over time,” Lowe said.
“This will require a further lift in interest rates over the period ahead. The Board will continue to closely monitor the incoming information and evolving balance of risks as it determines the timing and extent of future interest rate increases.”
Reserve Bank lifts rates ahead of election
By Shane Wright and Rachel Clun
The Reserve Bank has lifted the official interest rate to 0.35 per cent, less than three weeks out from a federal election focused on the cost of living pressures being felt by households across the country.
Following its May board meeting this afternoon, RBA governor Philip Lowe confirmed a 0.25 percentage point increase.
Governor of the Reserve Bank Phillip Lowe.Credit:Renee Nowytarger
“The Board judged that now was the right time to begin withdrawing some of the extraordinary monetary support that was put in place to help the Australian economy during the pandemic,” Lowe said.
It is the first rate increase in official interest rates since November 2010 and the first intervention by the bank in an election campaign since 2007.
The increase is likely to be the first of a series aimed at dealing with inflation which reached 5.1 per cent in the year to the end of the March quarter.
The decision will play directly into an election campaign dominated by cost of living issues.
Vaccination requirements to be removed for ACT healthcare, education workers
Healthcare and education workers in the ACT will no longer need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to work.
The changes will come into effect from 11.59pm on May 13.
However, aged care and disability care staff will still be required to be fully vaccinated, which includes receiving a booster shot no more than six months after receiving their second COVID-19 vaccine.
The changes were outlined by ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith in parliament, who said they reflected advice provided by Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman.
About 97 per cent of people aged over five have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the ACT and 75.4 per cent have received a booster shot.
The territory recorded 1,027 new COVID-19 cases in the latest reporting period.
Curry controversy
By Lisa Visentin
Time for some levity as we wait for the Reserve Bank’s interest rates decision at 2:30pm.
Keen observers of Australian politics will be aware of the Prime Minister’s fondness for cooking curries - indeed it is difficult to escape (he has posted to social media three efforts in the last month alone).
But it is his latest attempt - shall we call it “strong curry, strong economy” cookup - that has people asking questions.
Namely, is that chicken raw?
FM radio has a way of getting right to the heart of the most important issues, and so it was when Scott Morrison dialled into Melbourne’s FOX FM this morning he was asked point-blank: raw chicken, true or false?
“It is absolutely untrue,” Morrison said, insisting “people went back for seconds.”
“It was in the pan for a good 45 minutes, I can tell you, because I had it then myself.”
As for the decidedly flesh-pink appearance of the chicken, the PM had this to say: “It was just the way the light bounced off the skin of the chicken.”
Greens back minimum performance fee for artists
By Martin Boulton
Greens leader Adam Bandt has called for a government-backed $250 minimum performance fee for artists and the creation of a $1 billion live performance fund to support the arts sector.
Speaking in Melbourne today with arts spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young, Bandt backed a Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance proposal for a minimum performance fee when organisations receive government funding.
Greens leader Adam Bandt.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“Artists helped get us through the longest lockdown in the world here in Melbourne, but government support has been sorely lacking,” Bandt said.
“The impacts of the pandemic are still with us, as we saw with the devastating impacts of COVID-caused cancellations at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
“For too long, performers have been expected to wear massive financial risks and this instability means a lot of people can’t get into or stay in the industry.
“In [the event we hold the] balance of power, the Greens will push for musicians, comedians and other performers playing in government-backed events to get properly paid, and for more support for artists when gigs are cancelled.”
The MEAA campaign for a minimum support fee for musicians has been endorsed by Labor state governments in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.
Hanson Young said a minimum performance fee was “the least the government can do” to provide ongoing support for the arts sector.
“The sector was smashed literally overnight and suffered the longest and hardest, yet repeated pleas to the Morrison government for adequate help to survive and rebuild have been ignored,” she said.
“This minimum fee pledge is part of a comprehensive policy to revive and secure our arts and live performance industry.”
Tanya Plibersek defends Labor campaign launch absence
By Lisa Visentin
Labor’s education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek has popped up in Perth, where she has defended her absence from the party’s official campaign launch in the western capital on the weekend.
Plibersek instead remained in Sydney, as other frontbenchers travelled west for the launch, fuelling speculation she had been frozen out of the campaign.
Labor’s education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek.Credit:Jessica Hromas
Plibersek dismissed the speculation as a “storm in a tea cup” and described her friendship with leader Anthony Albanese as “terrific”.
“I’ve been campaigning in more than 20 seats,” she said.
“This is my second visit to the west in just a few weeks. I’m not really sure why we’re talking about this rather than talking about the fantastic plan that Labor has to make sure that every kid in every school in every part of Australia gets a great education. Why we’re not talking about the fact that the McGowan government needs a partner in Canberra that understands the west.”
The Labor frontbencher then went on the offensive:
We’ve got a Liberal government in Canberra that backed Clive Palmer when he was trying to open the borders to Western Australia too early. You’ve got a Liberal prime minister, who called West Australians cave dwellers and said that the McGowan government was a pale imitation of the gold standard of NSW in managing COVID when Mark McGowan was doing all he could to keep Western Australians safe. Maybe that should be the focus of some questions.
But the questions about her role in Labor’s campaign kept coming.
“It’s terrific,” Plibersek said of her relationship with Albanese. “I’ve known Anthony since I was 14. We’ve been friends a long time. I’m absolutely focused on winning this election and making Anthony Albanese prime minister of Australia.”
Goldstein candidates talk down polling indicating independent victory
By Royce Millar
Both the main candidates contesting the safe Liberal seat of Goldstein are playing down a new poll pointing to a thumping win for independent Zoe Daniel on May 21.
The poll, commissioned by progressive think tank the Australia Institute, has Daniel (35 per cent) and incumbent Liberal Tim Wilson (34 per cent) almost level on primary votes – a collapse of almost 20 per cent on Wilson’s primary vote from 2019.
Zoe Daniel and Tim Wilson at a candidate forum last week. Credit:Darrian Traynor
Daniel is expected to pick up the vast bulk of Labor and Greens preferences. The poll points to a two-candidate preferred result of 62 per cent for Daniel and 38 per cent for Wilson.
However, both Daniel and Wilson have questioned the figures and political pundits have queried the value of single-seat polling.
On ABC radio, Daniel – a former ABC reporter who covered Donald Trump’s election in the United States – said that anyone who watches politics and polling knows that it’s “very difficult to reliably poll individual seats”.
Nonetheless, she said the result was “encouraging” and showed many Goldstein voters “want to shake things up”.
Asked to comment on the poll, Wilson told this masthead:
Just add it to the list of outsiders trying to change our community from GetUp’s stunts, Extinction Rebellion’s graffiti, Climate 200’s chequebook and now the Australia Institute’s polling from a union outfit just to get a so-called independent elected to sneak Labor into government.
The poll also indicates that voters were evenly divided over whether Daniel should support Labor or the Coalition in the event of a hung parliament.
The uComms poll of 855 voters was conducted on Wednesday night last week.
Of the nine candidates that have nominated for Goldstein, the poll had the Labor Party’s Martyn Abbott on a 14 per cent primary vote and Greens candidate Alana Galli-McRostie on 8 per cent.
Watch: PM’s press conference
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has given a speech from the marginal Victorian seat of Chisholm.
He was joined by federal Liberal MPs Gladys Liu and Housing Minister Michael Sukkar.
We’ll have the playback version with you shortly.
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2022-05-03 05:21:59Z
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