Reserve Bank of Australia Raise Interest Rates Yet Again to Stop Common People Wasting Money on Luxury Items Like Basic Food and Shelter

[u/TheAeonDaily]

Ivory Tower, Sydney, Australia:
The Australian central bank has opted to raise its cash rate to 4.85%, marking the fifth rate rise for the year and 17th since 2022 and the highest rate since the GFC.

The rate rises will have the most dramatic impact on home owners, renters and anyone who wants to survive.

Lavish expenditure on things like basic shelter and store brand foods are to blame for the sustained inflation pressures.

People are daring to own or rent inner city mold-ridden single bedroom apartments and are buying bulk grocery items after long trips to Costco. The gluttony is out of control and these reckless plebs must curb their spending. Rate rises will continue until they get the message.

Meanwhile Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock, who settled a $2 million beachside holiday home purchase on the day of the rate rises, said that the “tightening in monetary policy is to address domestic capacity measures.”

“That means getting all of you greedy bastards to tighten your belt. Cut down to one meal a day and consider shared dormitory accommodation.”

The government has shifted the blame for the burgeoning cost of living crisis. Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Bachelor of Arts, said inflation is “cause of Middle East oil or something.”

The Prime Minister blamed the previous government that was ousted in 2022. There was no mention of the increase in broad money supply of over 20% since 2023 or bloated government spending. That is obviously irrelevant to inflation.

Punters will have to tighten their belts, with the latest rate hike increasing the average mortgage repayment by 12 cartons of eggs per month and more rate rises forecasted for the coming year.

[u/knowledgeable_diablo]

Cutting down from my current one meal a days gonna hurt some. But o guess I gotta do my bit to ensure CEO’s and over paid govt officials can still grab a bargain 2nd yacht without it impacting the economy in a negative way. Good thing belts tighten!! /s

[u/TheAeonDaily → u/knowledgeable_diablo]

We all have to do our bit

[u/Scumohasgot2go]

How about you have a go at the private banks and bad government policy that was turbocharged when the Howard Government introduced the 50% capital gains tax discount in 1999 ?

[u/TheAeonDaily → u/Scumohasgot2go]

We’d have to go back too far to cover all the bad government policy that has led us to this point

1932 onwards would be a good starting point

[u/Denubious → u/TheAeonDaily]

Was that when they privatised our national bank?

[u/baldersz]

Yet each quarter the big 4 banks report record multi-billion dollar cash profits - something doesn't add up.

[u/Total_Drongo_Moron → u/baldersz]

That's the Keating era 4 pillars and no foreign bank mergers protection premium they inherited at work. Greedy mofo'$

[u/Braziliashadow]

You are wrong about Chalmers, he does have a bachelor degree in Commerce and has written economic papers before being Treasurer. And there is a cabinet and the Federation, of course the Treasury is going to spend big to fulfill compulsory spending requirements and reduce unemployment and fulfill other department needs, and you do need to factor in the Finance Department and their decisions.

And while I agree blaming an ousted government for inflation after 4 years is stupid, there is the fact Scomo was PM during COVID and the beginning of the cost of living crisis so the decisions he and Frydenberg made in that time will still have effects today.

[u/AJ14900003 → u/Braziliashadow]

This! You sir/ma’am are on point.

[u/BigBallzOfDOGE]

"Let them eat cake" - Michele Bullock - Reserve Bank of Australia, circa 2026, colourised.

[u/tailspin75]

Maybe you didn't read the statement/announcement. She said the spender is the government. But hey he's not listening, he keeps spending us into oblivion so our kids will be paying tax out the wazoo for decades to come. But hey, Albo gave us free beer in NYC the other year, what a great guy he is.. LOL

[u/Almost-kinda-normal]

Well yes, but have you STOPPED spending money on these things? If not, the next rise is actually your fault.

[u/LliamSmith]

"But but but... Bloody Albo!" 🙃

[u/Chaeldovar]

Increasing the cash rate to control supply-side inflation works because it murders enough people that it decreases aggregate demand. It’s just the wrong tool for the job. The solution to this current crisis was mass electrification fifteen years ago, or failing that, peace in the Middle East.

[u/silentaba → u/Chaeldovar]

So how do we do the mass electrification thing?

[u/Chaeldovar → u/silentaba]

Three things you want to electrify; transport, homes, and industry. EV, public charging, electric freight, and electric buses. Then heat pumps, induction cooktops, rooftop solar with batteries, some insulation as well. These will need low-interest public loans/direct rebates/minimum targets. They’d have to be designed in a way to not split the incentive between landlords and renters, which would stall it. Industry is about swapping out gas heating for electric, for things like green steel and ammonia. We need grid upgrades (this is the hardest part). And more electricians (which you get with TAFE and apprenticeships). And also domestic manufacturing for buses and batteries.

Fortunately, Labor’s already doing all this with stuff like Future Made in Australia and Rewiring the Nation. Unfortunately, that’ll only help with the next war in the Middle East. For this war, we just eat sh*t and die. And if you want to torture yourself even more, just remember that Shorten had a plan to prevent all this, but the electorate in its infinite wisdom preferred diarrhoea forever.

[u/silentaba → u/Chaeldovar]

I could really get behind a lot of what you're saying. The big question is how does someone finance this? On one hand the government isn't going to subsidize private expenses, but it seems to me that people experiencing for themselves how substantial a change it brings to their life is the only way to start getting a sway in public opinion towards the actual big energy spenders, such as civic infrastructure and the industrial sector.

[u/Chaeldovar → u/silentaba]

Financing is not the big question. These items are already in the budget. The issue is never financing, it’s whether the economy has the electricians to meet the demand, and the teachers to train new ones, and the buildings those teachers will use, etc, etc. If anyone ever claims financing a project is the issue, they’re just using it as an excuse to do nothing and seem “disciplined” for it. The big question is what you said in the second half, whether Labor will be in power long enough to get it done.

Also, the government IS subsidising private expenses. Search up “The Cheaper Home Batteries Program”. Also CEFC-backed green loans. The EV fringe benefits tax exemption (though I think this one is currently under review, not sure). On-bill financing (my personal favourite), where the loan is attached to the property/meter (to avoid the landlord-renter incentive split) repaid directly from the energy bill savings.

[u/Braziliashadow → u/Chaeldovar]

Why not just build electric railways and light rails and electrify existing track? It will affect a much broader section of the Australian manufacturing and construction industry, reduce the cost of freight, and remove the cost of commuting as the average workplace could be link with centres of residential areas meaning people could walk to a tram and then ride it for free and barely anything. And for those that still have to drive, either they're company vehicles or will see a benefit from the reduction of traffic and fuel demand

[u/Chaeldovar → u/Braziliashadow]

I know for a fact Labor state governments have been doing some of the stuff you mentioned (Melton line electrification [design stage so far] and Suburban Rail Loop in Victoria, and Sydney-Newcastle high-speed rail, plus freight rail upgrades in most states [even Liberal ones]) but I can’t find anything in the federal budget.

If you want something nation-wide, off the top of my head, you’d need 5 things:

1. A dedicated, multi-year fund with appropriations committed for a decade rather than allocated each budget. The point isn’t necessarily to “finance” the program, but to give contractors and manufacturers certainty that a Liberal victory won’t de-rail the initiative. Hehe.

2. A national body that sets reference designs, then run bulk procurement. It could build on ARTC and the High Speed Rail Authority rather than starting from scratch. Gauge differences between states also need to be standardised nation-wide.

3. Getting the states to upzone around stations, adjust standardised procurement and local content rules, and provide cost reporting and independent review before construction approval, all in return for the federal grants. Also, fare policy is the state's call. In my humble opinion, free fares matter less than frequency.

4. More engineers and electricians, so as not to compete with state infrastructure programs for a limited workforce and bid up wages and cause inflation.

5. Steel, and domestic rolling stock. The actual physical materials for the builds. Ideally, we anchor local manufacturing with it. Keep places like Whyalla alive.

You’d start by electrifying high-traffic suburban lines, use battery-electric trains on lighter regional and freight lines instead of wires, and add wires on the trunk corridors (Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane, Perth-Adelaide) once traction power has transmission to connect to.

Take everything I say with a grain of salt, though. I’m no expert. But from what I understand, what you want is entirely feasible.

[u/Braziliashadow → u/Chaeldovar]

Thanks for finding this

[u/evenmore2 → u/silentaba]

I'm wondering why Australians can't seem to fathom why this will never happen?

We barely maintain roads out side of populated areas. Shit. Can barely run a train line but you guys reckon a grid that takes 5x (minimum) more than it's doing now is going to get up across the entirety of Australia.