It's rates, rates and more rates in the media & it's rates, rates and more rates at the kitchen table

With a continuing upward trend for interest rates being confirmed and the typical home mortgage repayments likely to pass $2,000 a month for the first time, interest rates are THE topic of conversation at many a table in the last twenty-four hours.

 

With housing affordability moving further and further from the reach of average Australian families, are we finally seeing the death of home ownership as a feature of our way of life?

 

Low income earners living on the North Coast are likely to face further rent rises as investors seek to pass on additional costs.

 

"Yesterday's quarter of a percentage point rise in the Reserve cash rate, to 6.75 per cent, could be passed on to borrowers within days, taking the banks' standard variable mortgage rate to 8.57 per cent,-----Experts said higher rates could also worsen the housing shortage, pushing up rents."

Full article in The Age today:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/howard-sorry-on-rates/2007/11/07/1194329319382.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

 

With the major banks expected to raise their own interest rates above the Reserve Bank increase, it is no wonder that John Howard trails Kevin Rudd in the 'trustworthy', 'cares for people', 'likeable', "in touch with the voters' and 'understands the major issues' categories according to the latest Newspoll.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/files/07-11-07-p1.gif

 

The Age on home loan defaults:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/analysts-warn-of-rising-loan-defaults/2007/11/07/1194329319388.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

 

John Howard's spin on lies caught out

This week the Prime Minister reached new heights in political double-speak and downright lying. He gets called on this by Peter Hartcher of The Sydney Morning Herald. 

 

"Howard deserves some punishment. He made a promise in 2004 that he knew he could not keep; he aggravated the problem by pumping more tax cuts and spending into the economy; and he is still trying to pretend that he is a superior economic manager.

And this latest rise, two weeks from polling day, cannot be good for his election prospects.

Howard has tried to talk his way out of it. He even invented a new concept in evasiveness yesterday to add to his other creations, the "non-core" promise and the "two-night" promise. Asked if he should be accountable for his 2004 pledge to keep rates at record lows, he said voters shouldn't look at every one of his utterances but only at the "aggregate impression" of what he had said."

Full The Sydney Morning Herald article:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/howard-adds-a-new-concept-in-evasiveness/2007/11/07/1194329318908.html

WorkChoices on the North Coast and the Church

The Anglican diocese went to bat strongly on behalf of the North Coast when John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull wanted to dam our rivers and pipe the water away. Now Rev. Rutherford of the Uniting Church is stepping up to the crease to show Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis that WorkChoices is an important issue in this region.

 

"The federal government's controversial WorkChoices is draconian legislation which does not create jobs, an Anglican reverend told a public forum in Lismore last Thursday.

Reverend Bob Rutherford of the Uniting Church was one of six panel members at a lively election forum hosted by popular ABC broadcaster Geraldine Doogue at Caddies Coffee lounge last Thursday afternoon.

He said WorkChoices was "absolutely a big issue" among the people he talked to through his pastoral work at the Lismore Regional Mission.

"I think the government has got it wrong if they think it's been a good thing for the country…it's been a bad thing for the country," Reverend Rutherford told the crowd of around 60 people.

He said if people in the region lost their jobs "they can't go anywhere, so they feel trapped".----

Ms Saffin said WorkChoices was "extremely unfair" and came up as an issue every day of her campaigning, especially among grandparents "deeply concerned" about its effects on their children and grandchildren."

The Northern Rivers Echo article:

http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=18388&issue=297

Campaign Day 25

Now let me get this straight. Yesterday was the tenth interest rate rise in the last five years and the sixth since the last federal election in 2004, with another rate rise is likely to occur sometime in the next three months.

John Howard is telling us all that he is sorry this rate rise happened. Then pointing out the happy news is that in a time of good economic growth wages have been kept down and will continue to be kept down under a re-elected Coalition Government.

So it's vote 1 for Howard because his government will mean less money in the family wage packet and that's a good thing?

Somehow I don't think this is going to run well on the North Coast.