❓ Treasurer addresses concerns about potential interest rate rise impact on family budgets, blaming the Prime Minister for broken promises on keeping rates low.
AnsweredQoN 722Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INTEREST RATES
Can the Treasurer inform the house of the impact another interest rate rise will have on family budgets, and who is to blame? Mr E.S. RIPPER
Can the Treasurer inform the house of the impact another interest rate rise will have on family budgets, and who is to blame? Mr E.S. RIPPER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member very much for her question. I know she would be particularly concerned about her constituents because higher interest rates are the biggest threat to family living standards and family budgets in Western Australia. If we have another rate rise before Christmas - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: I thank the member very much for her question. I know she would be particularly concerned about her constituents because higher interest rates are the biggest threat to family living standards and family budgets in Western Australia. If we have another rate rise before Christmas - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
I thank the member very much for her question. I know she would be particularly concerned about her constituents because higher interest rates are the biggest threat to family living standards and family budgets in Western Australia. If we have another rate rise before Christmas - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: I thank the member very much for her question. I know she would be particularly concerned about her constituents because higher interest rates are the biggest threat to family living standards and family budgets in Western Australia. If we have another rate rise before Christmas - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
I thank the member very much for her question. I know she would be particularly concerned about her constituents because higher interest rates are the biggest threat to family living standards and family budgets in Western Australia. If we have another rate rise before Christmas - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : Does the member not care about mortgage interest rates? Perhaps he might care about their effect on farmers. If there is another increase in interest rates before Christmas, average mortgage repayments will rise to $14 942 a year, which is $1 300 a year higher than when the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign to keep interest rates at record low levels. Opposition members do not seem to care about this issue. Perhaps they need to have it translated into a weekly amount. It means that families cannot afford to spend an extra $25 a week on food and clothing for their children. Television advertisements during the election campaign promised to keep interest rates at record low levels. That is not quite what the member said. The Prime Minister told voters - This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? He was certainly not saying to the public that there will be three or four interest rate rises before the next election. Quite a number of families were deceived. They entered into financial commitments on the basis of that promise. That promise has been broken three times already, and now it looks as though interest rates will go up again. The new Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, has warned that interest rates are more likely to rise than fall. An article in The West Australian on Friday stated that financial markets put the chance of a rise next month at 78 per cent. There is considerable fear of further interest rate increases. I noted some comments from the opposition about high interest rates in the past. The important point is that people have much higher household debt now, and they are paying a higher proportion of their disposable income in interest repayments than they were in the past. From the point of view of family budgets, it is a much more serious problem now than it was 15 years ago. The Prime Minister and the federal Treasurer have failed to keep their promise that interest rates will be at record lows. They said they would manage the economy so that interest rates would be kept low. They were wrong. They have not done that. Western Australian families will have to pay the price.
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