2 Sep 2024 - All the way with the RBA

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G’day… Claire Kimball here. 

From one important public institution (the ABC) to another (the Reserve Bank of Australia)… 

First, let’s wrap up last week’s question to gauge where Squizers are sitting with our national broadcaster after a bumpy year, the appointment of a new chair in Kim Williams, and the announcement last month that managing director David Anderson is on his way out. 

Put simply, Squizers have views - it was our third-highest response since we started doing these at the start of the year. So drumroll, please… A quarter said their love for the ABC runs deep. The biggest group was the almost 40% of respondents who said they’re tuning into the ABC about as much as they ever have. Fewer than 10% avoid their TV/radio/online offerings like the plague. 

When you stack those numbers up against current media consumption trends, it’s clear yet again that Squizers go against the grain in their search for quality news and information… 

To the next government body that’s under scrutiny… The Reserve Bank is central, not just in function but also in the debate about managing the economy - particularly the bit about bringing inflation down by keeping the official interest rate high. 

For seasoned political and economic heads, it’s discombobulating to see the Treasurer publicly criticising the RBA. That’s what’s happened again today, so it’s a good time to lay it out for you - particularly as we head towards an election when these issues will be centre stage. So for this week’s News Club picks: 

1. This podcast from The Conversation is from Friday - in it, RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser rules out an official interest rate cut anytime soon. Inflation is just too high, and it’s “sticky”, he says. 

2. And then bam - on the front page of The Australian this morning is an article (paywall) where Treasurer Jim Chalmers blasts the impact of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate hikes, saying they “are smashing the economy”.  

3. This uneasy dance between Chalmers and Governor Michele Bullock has continued after she said in a speech last month that the RBA was super close to raising rates, in part because governments’ spending is too high. “The board remains vigilant with respect to upside risks on inflation and will not hesitate to raise rates if it needs to. I know this is not what people want to hear,” she said. 

4. So why is Team Albanese going hard on this? As ABC Radio National host Patricia Karvelas says in her online column this morning, the government gets that the health of the economy and cost of living pressures are huge issues for voters, but the polls show it’s struggling to cut through. 

Next stop: the latest data on Australia’s economic growth (known as our National Accounts) that will round out where things landed last financial year is out on Wednesday. Two more sleeps… 

Your friend in news

Claire Kimball

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