Australians are bracing for another interest rate rise because Labor has turbo-charged the housing crisis and refused to tackle corporate price gouging, the Greens say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the RBA likely to raise rates this week, the Greens argue that millions of people will face an interest rate rise because the government has not tackled two major causes of inflation, spiraling housing costs and corporate profiteering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you’re a mortgage holder or a renter, you face being hit by the RBA to \u201cfix\u201d the government\u2019s “inflation problem”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnyone with a mortgage will be giving more per month to the big banks. Renters are going to cop it as it will trickle down into unfair rent rises. That leaves you with less money to spend on food, or the things you enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard enough right now to get ahead, you shouldn\u2019t be doing it harder. It shouldn’t be on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is about choices. The government\u2019s priorities mean that you are copping the pain while banks, energy companies and property investors keep winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf they\u2019d taken them on, you wouldn\u2019t be getting a rate rise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Nick McKim, Greens Economic Justice spokesperson said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLabor has chosen to leave inflation to the Reserve Bank instead of tackling some of the causes of rising prices – skyrocketing housing costs and corporate price gouging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the Reserve Bank increases interest rates the Treasurer will wring his hands and pretend he shares peoples\u2019 pain when in reality he is responsible for increasing pressure on the RBA to raise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you have a mortgage you are going to feel the pain, while the big banks keep winning. If you\u2019re renting, higher interest rates will flow straight into rent increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLabor pretends this is out of their control. It isn\u2019t. This is about political choices, and Labor has chosen to protect corporate profits while ordinary people wear the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBig corporations are driving up prices and making massive profits, and Labor refuses to make price gouging illegal across the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the same time, Labor is handing out around $180 billion in investor tax breaks that push up house prices and rents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe big winners from rising interest rates are the big banks, which already make around $200,000 in profit on the average mortgage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEnergy giants like AGL and Origin are also cashing in, with around a third of people\u2019s power bills going straight to profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to make corporate price gouging illegal, and we need to end tax breaks that help wealthy investors hoard housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople deserve a government that fights for them, not one that leaves inflation to the RBA while protecting big banks and corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Barbara Pocock, Greens Finance, Housing and Homelessness spokesperson said:<\/strong> \u201c$181 billion worth of investor tax handouts are driving up the cost of housing. Investor lending is running hot and now economy wide inflation is in resurgence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLabor\u2019s 5% deposit scheme, combined with their massive subsidies for property investors are spiking housing costs, which is the biggest driver of inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that Labor cares more about investors with dozens of properties than it does about renters, first home buyers and homeless people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Albanese government must urgently slow housing inflation. Labor needs to stop treating housing like a game of monopoly. It needs to scrap the tax breaks for wealthy property investors and directly build social and affordable houses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australians are bracing for another interest rate rise because Labor has turbo-charged the housing crisis and refused to tackle corporate price gouging, the Greens say. With the RBA likely to raise rates this week, the Greens argue that millions of people will face an interest rate rise because the government has not tackled two major … Continue reading “Labor must not leave inflation fight to RBA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37192,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37191\/revisions\/37192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cIn the midst of a housing crisis, families across Australia are holding their breath in anticipation of another interest rate rise. Millions of people are already in mortgage stress, already hurting in a cost of living crisis.
\u201cAustralia\u2019s inflation problem is being driven largely by rising house prices, caused by Labor\u2019s failed housing policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n