Now interest rates are equal to what Keating had them down to by 1996 - will you vote Labor again?

Question

People are quick to complain that interest rates were high under Labor but they forget that Labor's economic reforms brought interest rates down to 6.75% in 1996. After 11 years of Liberal government they are still 6.75%.
What exactly does Howard take the credit for? Record housing prices where no average Joe can afford a decent house anymore? Workchoices? China feeding our boom?
Will Liberal voters see through the lies and finally realise that Labor started the talks with China and they can manage the economy because they have managed the economy well under extremely difficult circumstances in the past...not under the good times like Liberal have now thanks to WA and China.

Not sure where mramazin gets 10.25% from? Maybe that is what his bank was charging him but had he bothered to check the official RBA site (instead of some two bit finance website) he could clearly see interest rates were slashed repeatedly under Labor and were sitting around 6.5% by November 1996. They were even as low as 4.75% in 1993 when Keating was going at full speed.
Typical Liberal voters only hear what they want to hear.
http://www.rba.gov.au/Statistics/cashrate_target.html

Answer 1

Interesting information. Yeah, we do tend to forget that stuff, don't we!

Howard has made a lot of 'his' success with interest rates. I wonder if he'll be so quick to accept responsibility when the economic forces of the global economy push through the next few rate rises.

I doubt it.

Cheers :-)

Answer 2

The Liberals have done so much damage to this country and all they can talk about is the economy. The economic reforms of the Hawke/Keating Labor Governments are the reason why everything has been scooting along quite nicely for the Liberals. That and the happenstance of the current mining boom. A drovers dog could have run this economy, anyone with any sense can see that.

..........John Howard is mean , tricky & desperate

Answer 3

INCORRECT: Keating had the lowest of the Labor Gov'ts, in recent times, interest rates at 10.25% by the end of 1996. (During his time as Treasurer, he had rates at 17%.) This 10.25%, happens to be the same as Whitlam. John Howard promised continual record lows for interest rates and this has been done. 7.75% is still in the lowest range for Australia since the mid/late 60's and this was also a Coalition Gov't.

Housing costs reflect demand and over population of sort after property. As these areas become populated, prices go up. The Labor State Gov'ts can be blamed here too. Goss and Beatie in Qld, for example, have pushed hard to get business Head Offices into Qld, Virgin for example. This means that more people have to move into the area for work and, as most of these people are coming from Sydney and Melbourne, they have the money to send on better property. This pushes the value of other properties in the area up. Very simple economics. The haves will spend, the sellers will take, property values go up. Not to mention the strain on water, health and roads. Thank you Labor!

Hawke and Keating had, possibly, the best economic times to prove that they could manage our economy. When they had the boom times, we suddenly had the "Recession that we had to have!" Thank you Labor! (Also remember the "Banana Republic" comment from Mr Keating? Disregard, contempt and utter arrogance! Thank you Labor!

If you really want China as an economic power, then move there and really experience the "Life!"

Jack: Your showing your intelligence level. Create one answer and cut and paste it everywhere. It must be difficult for you to accept the truth! This is independant evidence that the Question is incorrect. You can't argue with Historically proven fact, surely!

INSIGHT: Your figures are correct for money borrowed by financial intitutions and are being bandied around, incorrectly by both Party's as actual (public) loan rates. My figures are the actual "Home Loan" rates that we endure. I incorrectly quoted the rates from my guide, should have been 7.75% (basic) (which I have now corrected). This rate is 2.5% lower than in Keating's period and this is due to economic management. Financial Institution's borrow at the same rate in both, late 96 and 07, but their profit margins were greater under Keating, to the tune of 4% at best (for the borrowers) as to 1% now! More people can afford to borrow at the lower rates and banks final profit figures are still, in the dollar sense, slightly better than under Keating's mismanagement. End result, you're better off borrowing now than under any previous post WW2, Labor Government.


http://www.abilityfinance.com.au/home_loan_interest_rate_history.htm

Answer 4

The only thing he can take credit for in all his years in office is making us terrorist target by sucking up Bush's ****.
Go Kevin07

Answer 5

i agree completely . i think that most liberal voters are so badly informed about Rudd's policies that they asume all of them must be bad so the stick to what they know in voting for howard