ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced a long-awaited interest rate cut, citing slowed inflation and declining consumer spending. The decision marks a significant shift after years of rate hikes, which experts say were necessary to correct the damage inflicted by some of the greatest economic minds in the nation’s history.
The rate cut, confirmed in a statement by RBA Governor Michele Bullock today, comes after Australians endured a prolonged period of financial hardship caused by record government stimulus, supply chain breakdowns, and an overheated housing market. Factors largely attributed to the Morrison government’s fiscal policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, an over reliance on immigration and it’s use as a human Spakfilla to cover up cracks in our unsophisticated economy.
The economic legacy of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, now a Goldman Sachs banker, remains a hot topic among economists and homeowners alike. Under their watch, emergency JobKeeper payments were handed out so generously that profitable companies banked billions, housing prices soared due to artificially low interest rates, and inflation spiralled out of control, all problems their successors were left to clean up.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the rate cut, stating, “It’s taken years of tough decisions to bring the economy back from the brink. We are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel, despite the structural damage left behind.”
Meanwhile, Morrison declined to comment.
Frydenberg was unavailable as he was attending a board meeting in New York.
As Australians breathe a small sigh of relief, economists warn that while this rate cut is a positive step, the nation will be feeling the effects of “Morrisonomics” for years to come.
More to come.
