ID :
17697
Mon, 09/01/2008 - 19:37
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/17697
The shortlink copeid
Nelson under attack over rates comments
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has urged the Reserve Bank to slash interest rates by half a percentage point on Tuesday, but admits he wouldn't give the same directive if he was prime minister.
The coalition's attempt to attack the government on the economy backfired on Monday as Dr Nelson's dual position on interest rates stole the limelight. Before parliament began, Dr Nelson called on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut rates by half a percentage point. The RBA is widely tipped to lower the official cash rate on Tuesday by at least one quarter of a percentage point, which would be the first downward move since December 2001.
"There is every justification for the (Reserve) bank, if it chooses, to cut those rates by half a percentage point," he told the Australian Industry Group national conference in Canberra. When asked by a journalist whether he would voice his expectations on rates if he
was prime minister, Dr Nelson replied: "No."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was farcical that Dr Nelson would say one thing in opposition but admit he would take a different approach if in government. "What we now have is the new Nelson doctrine: 'What I say in opposition has nothing whatsoever to do with what I do in government'," Mr Rudd said. "In other words, the overall dictum of those opposite is to say anything, to do anything, to promise anything in order to get themselves a headline.
"How can the leader of the opposition ... speak about responsible economic management when he goes out one morning and says, as leader of the Liberal Party and as alternative prime minister, that the Reserve Bank should take a particular course of action on rates and, in the same breath, say that if he were prime minister he would not say that or do that?"
During question time, the opposition asked the government a series of questions relating to growing economic pressures on families since Labor won office last year. "Prime minister, is it not the case that the Reserve Bank may lower interest rates because the economy is slowing sharply?
"Is it not also the case that, while inflation continues to rise under your government, Australians are losing their jobs in parallel with a massive collapse in business and consumer confidence?
"Prime minister, in plain language, why are Australians worse off since the election of the Rudd government?"
Mr Rudd said the economic pressures families faced were largely due to 10 consecutive interest rate rises under the former coalition government, in which Peter Costello was treasurer. He said families had forked out an extra $400 a month on an average $247,000 mortgage as a result of Mr Costello's "interest rate regime". "That is the practical consequence for working families - a Costello $400-a-month
interest rate hit," he said.
The coalition's attempt to attack the government on the economy backfired on Monday as Dr Nelson's dual position on interest rates stole the limelight. Before parliament began, Dr Nelson called on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut rates by half a percentage point. The RBA is widely tipped to lower the official cash rate on Tuesday by at least one quarter of a percentage point, which would be the first downward move since December 2001.
"There is every justification for the (Reserve) bank, if it chooses, to cut those rates by half a percentage point," he told the Australian Industry Group national conference in Canberra. When asked by a journalist whether he would voice his expectations on rates if he
was prime minister, Dr Nelson replied: "No."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was farcical that Dr Nelson would say one thing in opposition but admit he would take a different approach if in government. "What we now have is the new Nelson doctrine: 'What I say in opposition has nothing whatsoever to do with what I do in government'," Mr Rudd said. "In other words, the overall dictum of those opposite is to say anything, to do anything, to promise anything in order to get themselves a headline.
"How can the leader of the opposition ... speak about responsible economic management when he goes out one morning and says, as leader of the Liberal Party and as alternative prime minister, that the Reserve Bank should take a particular course of action on rates and, in the same breath, say that if he were prime minister he would not say that or do that?"
During question time, the opposition asked the government a series of questions relating to growing economic pressures on families since Labor won office last year. "Prime minister, is it not the case that the Reserve Bank may lower interest rates because the economy is slowing sharply?
"Is it not also the case that, while inflation continues to rise under your government, Australians are losing their jobs in parallel with a massive collapse in business and consumer confidence?
"Prime minister, in plain language, why are Australians worse off since the election of the Rudd government?"
Mr Rudd said the economic pressures families faced were largely due to 10 consecutive interest rate rises under the former coalition government, in which Peter Costello was treasurer. He said families had forked out an extra $400 a month on an average $247,000 mortgage as a result of Mr Costello's "interest rate regime". "That is the practical consequence for working families - a Costello $400-a-month
interest rate hit," he said.
