John Howard promised to keep interest rates at “record lows”
australianlabor
There have been 5 interest rate rises since he made that promise at the 2004 election, and nine interest rate rises in a row. Mr Howard keeps saying working families have never been better off – is that how you feel?
In response to ‘Wolfman696′: the issue surrounding interest rates isn’t one of fiscal credibility, but rather one of honesty and integrity. Howard emphatically promised throughout 2004 to ‘keep interest rates low’, yet they rose on nine consecutive occasions, representing a blatant violation of trust.
What’s more, it is a result of poor economic policy – reckless governmental spending fueled rate rises.
Economic surpluses… in eleven budgets they have managed to under predict ever budget surplus… either they can’t count and are hence stupid or just sneaky… I don’t like either option… and it is easy to have surplus after surplus after you introduce a tax system that you previously swore to NEVER EVER introduce ( GST )
your an idiot… you think the 3rd world countries have it better off? you think countries like vietnam have a clean country like us? no they dont get your facts right.
as soon as people stop buying what they dont need is when they can afford a new house
John Howard has kept interest rates as low as he could. The Cash Rate was 5.25% at the 2004 election — the rate now is 6.5%. His promise was that rates would always be lower under a Liberal Government — not that they would never rise if that was what was needed to control inflation.
Inflation / Unemployment under Hawke & Keating — 9% & 11% respectively; under Whitlam 17% and 7% respectively. What are the rates under Howard — Inflation 2.9%; Unemployment 4.2%. Why is Howard on the nose?
Hello, My name is Kevin, the walking talking Diplomat.
“I’m not a puppet. I’m a real boy.”
KRudd07.
Join the Diplomats club!
not that im a fan of howard or the liberal government. but they are still unbelievably low. its just been a very long time since they were anything else.
of course, it wouldnt have mattered who won that election, the interest rates still would have risen. the rba said that before the election at the time. and they were right. i agree!!! some things are not in the controll of the government.
so grow up rudd, if you start the campaign telling lies you are no different than howard!
Aussie interest rates are among the highest in the developed world right now. Is that what the rodent meant when he promised “record low” rates? What a lying rodent!
last time they were in power was almost 11 years ago, how long you going to use that line for???
Its just as stupid as saying that there where no terrorist attacks to australians before the Howard government.
So does howard stand for terrorisim?… well…
Interest rates are one thing, but the fact is australia still has the worst housing affordability in the WORLD. So at the end of the day that is what matters, people can’t buy a house
are you telling me polticians always tell the truth? this is not news!
I hope these ads are going to go on TV.
2stok, Inexperienced government? The way the Liberals recently handled leadership qualms was inexperienced it shows they have not learned anything over 11 years in government.
not that im a fan of howard or the liberal government. but they are still unbelievably low. its just been a very long time since they were anything else.
of course, it wouldnt have mattered who won that election, the interest rates still would have risen. the rba said that before the election at the time. and they were right.
when howard was treasuror his intrest rate was 21 percent
why is this kept slient
his ultimate mates rates power rule is killing us and making us sick
how many loosing thier health and thier home, while the elite get subsidised swimming pools ,and we get fixed ratye work contracts[with rising dis intrest]
enrole to vote dudes
humm i stil think liberals would do a better job, for labor it would either stay the same at 8% or go to 20% like the last time they were in power
It says all that needed to be said. He flat out LIED to the australian people.
Win this one Kevin. Win it not for yourself, or Labor, but for Australia. We need you to! Lest the Smiling Assassin (Aka Peter Costello) become PM!
they still are at record lows !! compared to when labor was last in government they where more than DOUBLE what they are now!! country is fine why change it for an inexperienced government.
Now the Majority of people are working 20 hours per Fortnight 10 to 15 hours per week and liberals have decided to label this full time employment.
So of you take the 40 plus hours we were mostly working before Howard got in and divide it into four segments there should actually be 137 percent fulltime employment then some. Why is this not the case?
500 characters is not enough to post a proper response!! Oh well, I can’t wait till this is all over so I don’t have to listen to anymore winging. Hang on a minute, was I just winging
liar. I like the GAP year in the ADF though.
What about the fact that rates were 22% with Howard as treasurer. Not many people are mentioning that.
The Libs insinuated that they could control interest rates because to the average apathetic voters, they think this is still the government’s role. However when quizzed on this notion, Howard responded by saying that the Liberals were going to set the right economic climate so that the RBA (who really controls interest rates) did not need to lift them.
Think about this: the ‘right economic climate’. Spending big on election campaigning? Giving huge tax cuts in an election year?
If the Howard Government does not concede that THIS is contributing to the upward pressure on inflation, and thus, producing higher interest rates to cool the economy, then that is just reckless economic management ignorance.
Howard can blame the States, he can blame 17% interest rates under Keating but the fact is that in 2004, he PROMISED us that he would ‘keep interest rates at RECORD lows’. “Who do you trust to keep interest rates low?” Certainly not you John!
In that case the Liberals were stupid for making out that they could control interest rates, which they asserted in their advertising campaigns.
Yes, the reserve bank independently control interest rates. The government are still responsible for running the economy though. They should have predicted that their tax cuts and attacks on workers rights would increase inflation and bring about interest rate rises.
Howard takes all the credit for low interest rates and accepts none of the responsibility for them going higher. He has sponged off the hard work of Keating, especially the visionary superannuation guarantee, which Howard and Costello vehemently opposed. Instead of wage rises we should get more super guarantee – ideally 15 to 20% – it keeps inflation down and grows national savings.