source : the age
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INTEREST RATES
The federal government sets the parameters within which the Reserve Bank of Australia operates, and tasks it with controlling inflation and maintaining ″full″ employment. In turn, we are told the RBA considers movements in ‘trimmed mean inflation’ when setting the discount rate.
However, events in the Middle East create pervasive upward cost impacts directly and indirectly on the majority of goods and services we buy, thus affecting the trimmed mean inflation rate.
So, how can an interest rate increase have an effect on externally generated inflation – particularly when the other major impact is federal government deficit spending? This occurs either directly through funding government activities, or indirectly through funding support to parts of the private sector.
What a Kafkaesque world we increasingly live in; the RBA has little control over the two major impacts on inflation, and yet has the task of controlling it. And the federal government thinks this is a viable situation.
Paul Coronel, Hawksburn
Spread the burden of inflation
Inflation unfairly targets those who have no lee-way in spending. Then a borrowing-rate rise to try to reduce inflation does not fall squarely on all Australians. It targets those who have a house mortgage, an overdraft or a credit card debt. Those without any of these are largely free to pay increased prices, and so feed inflation. The more assets you have, the less inflation affects you.
How can the burden of inflation be spread across the community? For example, the highest income tax rates could be linked to inflation. Taxation is the only progressive burden on wealth, but there must be more.
It is time for governments to spread the burden of inflation across Australia’s population.
John Pinniger, Fairfield
Generation spending
While families in the mortgage belt struggle with increased interest charges and higher fuel prices, their parents have paid off their mortgage, drive electric cars and plan their next overseas trip.
Phil Lipshut, Elsternwick
Landlords living lavishly
I have a suggestion for The Age’s next special report feature, following this weekend’s ″Melbourne’s Most Beautiful Homes″ 31/10.
I reckon ″Melbourne’s Dodgiest Rentals″ would be fiercely contested, and much more relatable to a majority of Victorians, particularly young people.
The feature should, correspondingly, name the owners of these lavishly priced rentals, and showcase the profits they make as successful ″landlords″.
Michelle Goldsmith, Eaglehawk
Straight from Trump’s song sheet
For so long, our prime minister has kept his cool while other leaders have sought the populist route. So I was dismayed that he looked to shift the blame for our high-interest rates to the Reserve Bank, who are only doing what they are required to do. Anthony Albanese’s words were straight out of the Trump handbook.
Paul Williams, Fullarton SA
Let’s do as the Americans do
If Americans can put interest rates on hold, why can’t our RBA?
Jane Spier, Seaford
How not to spend it
Melbourne’s world-class research institutes suffering funding crises and record number of people homeless and sleeping rough, and we pour millions into AUKUS!
Mary Stephen, Fitzroy
THE FORUM
AI’s insidious threats
Shane Wright warns of the dangers inherent in AI (″The existential risks the AI boom reveals – even to its investors″, 31/10). While the threat of wiping out humanity is real, even ‘tamed’ AI poses other, equally insidious threats.
Not only do data centres consume huge amounts of electricity and water, as well as making a significantly detrimental environmental and aesthetic impacts on nearby communities, they also consume huge amounts of data.
Imagine if an individual’s information could be gathered in one place: tax and financial transactions; phone and internet usage; medical, educational and employment records; travel information; political affiliations and organisational memberships – the list is virtually endless.
Now imagine the tech titans, who appear to prioritise profit over people, offered to sell those profiles to a repressive government.
Are the data centres we naively welcome really Trojan horses preparing the way for future fascist governments? We should be very careful what we wish for.
John Annison, Lilydale
Limit big tech
Back in 2024, the then member for Goldstein, independent MP Zoe Daniel, was quick to see the harm social media can do and sought to do something practical about it. She introduced a private members’ digital duty of care bill to make social media companies accountable for their published content.
Now, the Albanese Labor government is having a go, but trying to keep the big tech companies happy too, with a difficult pathway to opt out.
Meanwhile, the Liberals have opted out completely of doing anything to make our online world safer, with what Peter Hartcher (31/10) describes as “spurious” objections of “censorship”.
The public mood is swinging against the big tech companies, so there is little to lose in supporting these laws. This is a great opportunity for parliament to work together to thwart the addictive nature and power of social media and show a duty of care to us all.
Jenny Kashyap, Bentleigh
LNP spurious nonsense
I’m appalled by the Coalition’s refusal to engage with the digital duty of care bill, which if passed, would require online service providers to ensure a safe digital environment.
Their argument that making providers responsible for content constitutes a breach of free speech is spurious nonsense. In the meantime, children continue to be exposed to material that is hateful, misogynistic, and associated with self-harm and suicidal ideation. How can anyone think that is OK?
Jan Storey, Beaumaris
People deserve a say
The Victorian Government should not rush the decisions on data centre approvals (″Minister’s deadline on $5b data centres call″, 1/11). The government should represent the community’s interests, and the community deserves a proper say in data centre projects that will impact them.
The decisions should wait a few weeks until after the state election. Democracy should not be treated as an inconvenience to the profit-making interests of large corporations.
Mark Zirnsak, Uniting Church in Australia
Hands off west
Re ″Eight-storey hub equivalent to 11 MCGs heads up $5 billion data centre queue″ 1/11.
At the risk of stating the obvious, I would have thought any planning minister rushing to approve any proposed development, let alone multiple highly dubious ones like data centres, is not a good look for any government from any angle.
Why always pick on the western suburbs when it comes to dumping highly dubious data centres no one wants? Is it a case of not listening to the weak, a community of migrants, uneducated and those without powerful social connections of those who would willingly speak up for the vulnerable?
Talk about Labor once again betraying their own heartland.
On so many levels, we know there should be a moratorium on data centres until it is widely demonstrated why we suddenly supposedly need them at all and then, if necessary, can agree on fair and sensible lactation criteria.
Rushing to approve anything during the dying hours of a government only highlights the need for yet another investigation soon, similar to the one also needed as to ask why the former premier Jacinta Allan belligerently locked us into the SRL whether we need or can afford it, or not.
Bernadette George, Mildura
Energy fallacy
It seems One Nation, along with Jess Wilson’s Coalition, have not studied the “primary energy fallacy”
The fallacy shows why focussing on energy going into the system can obscure focus on the useful energy we get out. Google it. As a result, they ignore the amount of energy wasted when we burn fossil fuels and are indifferent to benefits of reducing that immense waste through electrification. The economy wide benefits of adopting less wasteful, more efficient technology holds huge economic potential for our state so you would think all politicians would want to take action to encourage it. Sadly not so.
Many Victorians have put this knowledge to good use by switching to efficient electric appliances which has cut wasted energy in their homes and slashed their energy bills. There are big economy wide benefits on offer if the dinosaurs get with it. That’s unlikely, but at least the rest of us can just get on with it in the mean time.
David Hudspeth, Burwood
Enough is enough
Your Letters correspondent asks “what has Jess Wilson done to deserve to be elected premier?” (“And another thing”, 31/10. I would argue a more pertinent question would be “does Labor deserve to be returned considering its record of failures?” Billions lost to alleged corruption on the Big Build, more billions lost on cancelled projects, the worst state in Australia to do business, the highest debt of any state, out of control crime, and firebombing on an almost daily basis is the reality of life in Victoria. If that is not enough to oust this government, what is?
Christo Krousoratis, Templestowe
Stagnant in Victoria
I read with interest the views of journalist, Peter Hartcher (“The four horsemen of the apocalypse are coming for the global economy” 31/10) regarding the political stagnation of our major parties.
As Victoria faces an election in less than a month, the same stagnation applies to our Victorian parties.
Reading the advertising material from my local candidates does not fill me with any optimism as I fail to see any of the parties offering solutions for the myriad problems that beset our state.
The SRL debate on whether to “pause or not to pause” hardly inspires confidence. We are facing climate change fallout, shortages of health workers, increasing crime rates and a massive state debt, none of which appear to be convincingly addressed.
The malaise in our political system is endemic and suggests that governments need to fix the problems, both state and national now.
Marisa Di Giacomo, Beaumaris
Patterson’s curse
Re ″Mushroom killer Erin Patterson emotionless as appeal dismissed″, 30/10. Erin Patterson’s failed appeal has brought into focus, even if fleetingly, the living conditions of prisoners in solitary confinement.Is there natural light, fresh air – basic needs of a human being?
Yes, people who commit horrendous crimes should be punished but in Erin Patterson’s case, is she expected to endure solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for the rest of her life until her dying breath?
Surely justice is served with a life sentence, or is that not enough punishment? Is her confinement even considered humane?
Pam McConnell, Boronia
Not acceptable
I saw a young woman trying on a Halloween ″decoration″- a headband bearing an axe, complete with fake blood that looks as though it had been embedded in her skull.
At a time when women are being murdered and assaulted at a horrific rate, a Halloween ″joke″ like that is not acceptable.
And yes, I told her so because the standard we walk past is the standard we accept.
Jane Ross, San Remo
Secret men’s business
The excellent Good Weekend (31/10) article by Konrad Marshall on ‘Secret Men’s Business’ was very depressing. It explains how football clubs foster and influence many boys’ and men’s attitudes and behaviour towards women. It is imperative that their culture and attitudes towards women is changed.
Maria McKinnon, Northcote
Ageing in place
Our son sometimes screams: “Mum … Dad’s on the roof doing the gutters and he won’t come down” (before taking over).
So you might understand why I found “he bought the block of land for £30, when it was considered too steep and flood-prone to be useable” inspirational (“Melbourne’s most beautiful homes”, 31/10).
Especially, the imagery of a 99-year-old negotiating (damp and slippery?) steps of forbidding incline and helical staircases – magnificent! (While health professionals have kittens.)
That “Peter McIntyre and his family still live on the site where he and wife Dionne raised their children” transcends architecture, and highlights the dread lurking for many unable to die at home – dependency, while the family home, garden, habitat and wildlife are bulldozed.
Ronald Elliott, Sandringham
AND ANOTHER THING
Cricket
Not a good sign for our current Australian international cricket season after the South Africa debacle. Perhaps the selectors need be more long-sighted and start, to use an AFL term, blooding some of our young up and comers.
Mary Biggs, Yarraville
Oh, dear. Australia loses test match and series due to a batting collapse. A batting collapse initiated by a South African bowler who bowls like Scott Boland. Scott Boland, the player dropped from Australia’s test team. Oh, dear.
Paul Andrews, Hawthorn
Furthermore
Charles Wooley, on becoming Hobart’s Lord Mayor, announced his aim is to “Make Hobart Great Again” .Oh, dear.
Yvonne Trevaskis, Hobart Tas
President Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to the next G20. It is time for the other 18 members of the G20 to boycott the event and hold it outside the USA without Trump and Putin. Time to send a very clear message.
Jim Hayman, Portsea
No to the huge data centre in Brooklyn or anywhere else. We’ve already been told that AI can destroy humanity. We need our water and energy security – and the continuation of the human race.
Katriona Fahey, Alphington
I love the Spring Carnival but the spectacle of conspicuous consumption of clothes, entertainment, catering and punting should make the RBA realise that raising rates only allows the wealthy licence to spend. The poor don’t fuel inflation.
Kay Moulton, Surrey Hills
For the sake of peace and stability in Israel and the Middle East, I’m desperately hoping Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot eats humble pie and does a deal with the Arab parties to form government.
Kevin Burke, Sandringham
Oh, no! After enjoying my favourite column in The Saturday Age (31/10), which mused about lengthy words, I was saddened to read it was the final Wordplay column. Alas, I am disconsolate, melancholic, lachrymose, and grief-stricken. Thank you, David Astle, for your clever prose.
Ellen Barber, Ascot Vale
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