Anthony Albanese - How long? -3-

[Johnny Bananas]

here ….”The changes will remove the burden on banks to ensure people do not take out loans they cannot afford”

The Government wants to make it easier for you to get a mortgage amid the coronavirus recession — but there's a catch - ABC News

amp.abc.net.au

There's nothing in that link that proves the changes to lending laws solely caused the housing crisis or solely caused house prices to double, which is what I was asking for evidence of. You'll find that demand for housing was also being spurred by property investors (who were bidding everything up long before 2020), Australians living overseas returning and the high immigration level once borders reopened. And supply was not increasing due to the uncertain investment environment, supply chain difficulties and our current skills shortage.

There are many factors that have led to house price inflation and you haven't provided any smoking gun to show it was caused primarily by a relaxation of lending standards.

Also, APRA increased the serviceability buffer (the interest rate above present commercial rates which lenders use to assess buyers' finances against) from 2.5% to 3% in 2021, which counteracted some of the government’s changes.

Some places it almost doubled

The point is, low interest rates fuelled by relaxed lending rules during a pandemic caused the housing crisis

Okay let's step back for a minute. Relaxed lending rules do not fuel low interest rates. If anything, the increased demand for loans increases commercial interest rates. What caused low interest rates was the uncertain global investment environment plus the RBA slashing rates due to the economy falling into recession in 2020.

 

[Golden_6]

Some places it almost doubled

The point is, low interest rates fuelled by relaxed lending rules during a pandemic caused the housing crisis

It was an interesting time.

I purchased by first home in January 2020 (settled in April 2020) just before Covid took off. I remember at the time thinking I was throwing away a big chunk of my future given everyone expected prices to crash. Fast forward 12 months after the purchase date my property had increased by 25% and has at least held that value since.

 

[nut]

Relaxed lending rules do not fuel low interest rates.

Ok poor English from me… we had low interests rates which was then fuelled by relaxed lending rules, which allowed people to borrow more than they normally could.
It was criminal what they did, the rules were in place to stop another GFC.

So your normal borrowing power is usually worked out by adding 3-4% to the current interest rate to protect borrowers in case of a rate rise… this safety net was removed.

Thousands of young couples were allowed to borrow more than they could afford

 

[Gavin Excell]

Ok poor English from me… we had low interests rates which was then fuelled by relaxed lending rules, which allowed people to borrow more than they normally could.
It was criminal what they did, the rules were in place to stop another GFC.

So your normal borrowing power is usually worked out by adding 3-4% to the current interest rate to protect borrowers in case of a rate rise… this safety net was removed.

Thousands of young couples were allowed to borrow more than they could afford

Being able to withdraw from superannuation without any significant hardship needing to be proved during Covid may not have also been the greatest decision

 

[Carn The Berries]

Ok poor English from me… we had low interests rates which was then fuelled by relaxed lending rules, which allowed people to borrow more than they normally could.
It was criminal what they did, the rules were in place to stop another GFC.

So your normal borrowing power is usually worked out by adding 3-4% to the current interest rate to protect borrowers in case of a rate rise… this safety net was removed.

Thousands of young couples were allowed to borrow more than they could afford

*Thousands of young couples chose to borrow an amount, without sufficient understanding of market conditions...

 

[nut]

*Thousands of young couples chose to borrow an amount, without sufficient understanding of market conditions...

Were you too young during the GFC? When has unregulated lending ever worked?

RBA also said interest rates weren’t going to rise for a couple of years…

 

[It Just Is]

Were you too young during the GFC? When has unregulated lending ever worked?

RBA also said interest rates weren’t going to rise for a couple of years…

The RBA cutting interest rates to near zero pre-2019 because inflation was too low (!) was madness and left them nowhere to go during the pandemic.

The current economic case for cutting interest rates is also fairly thin. Despite the social, media and political pressure. Unemployment is already low and it certainly won’t help housing affordability for those unable to enter the market.

 

[Sinjin Smith]

Adding dental to Medicare would be such a life changer for so many people.

Expect the tediously predictable "we can't afford it" protestations from the sectors of society (and their hard-working Murdoch propagandists) who can afford bloody well anything they want.

I'll just repeat, in case anyone has forgotten:

We are one of the richest nations in the richest period in human history.

We can't afford everything, but we can afford anything.

It's just a question of us as a society deciding what we want our priorities to be.

Anyone who says otherwise is either talking bullshit, or has a vested interest in the status quo.

Yep and one more addition please. Mental Health (as a broad term, would need to be defined) but think of the benefits that could provide those that cant afford specialists. Flow on effects: Reduction in addiction (drugs/prescriptions, alcohol, gambling, spousal abuse, child abuse etc etc).

This is all very very high level but as a recipient of the high mental health care I think if it was expanded so everyone could access it,the benefits wont just outweigh the negatives, they'll see savings across the board.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Because they're some of the only places in the world where the political left are doing well right now from a position of incumbency. It's not a coincidence that they embraced bold moves and remain popular, AMLO/Sheinbaum and Lula are not wishy-washy neoliberals like Albanese, Biden and Starmer.

Sheinbaum has the potential to be a revolutionary leader. Highly intelligent, charismatic and not afraid to give it Trump as we have seen. She's progressive and isn't afraid to say she is and her people respect her for it. Albo should be taking a leaf out of her book, gutsy policies and how you sell them will win the electorate over.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Which is the problem

People will just go back to the coalition if Labor aren't going to do anything

Look at Trump, how much has he already changed in the first few days?

Funny how the so called conservatives have no problem enacting the changes they want but the so called progressives can't find the will to do much of anything

It's almost like their real primary purpose is to stop real change from happening

Changed alot but for the worse. It's easy to make a shitload of executive orders which make zero sense and barely benefit anybody. I give him credit for actually doing what he said he would do however and doesn't really care about the blowback from it either.

 

[schneebly111]

Albo should be taking a leaf out of her book, gutsy policies and how you sell them will win the electorate over.

I think Albo knows that a combination of Murdoch, mining interests and US foreign policy are those he must kowtow to.

 

[Gralin]

Changed alot but for the worse. It's easy to make a shitload of executive orders which make zero sense and barely benefit anybody. I give him credit for actually doing what he said he would do however and doesn't really care about the blowback from it either.

Oh I never said it was change for the better
I just find it interesting that the arguments the supposedly good guys and their supporters always make is that change takes time, has to be done incrementally and slowly

And yet when the other party gets in they have no such contraints

Which means over time things are getting progressively worse and further into the area one party wants it to be

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Neither of the major parties want to "solve" the housing crisis by making housing affordable. It means prices coming down and neither group wants that for personal and for electoral reasons.

But Cost of Living overall is what they should be addressing. And they're steadfastly refusing to do anything of substance. Tinkering around the edges and celebrating that inflation has fallen to normal levels and then pretending like the massive wave of inflation which made everyone with a mortgage or without existing wealth much worse off never happened.

They can talk about what they've done, but if they pretend that everyone's hunky-dory now, they're going to lose.

My only question is: Which advisor is telling them to pretend the Cost-of-living crisis isn't happening, or is over? Those people should be fired into the moon. Why are they doing this? The Libs will win if the ALP keep on this tack that everything is going great thanks to their management.

Because things are going worse for people (the majority) now than they were when the ALP was elected. That's a fact. Trump won most under $50k earning voters in the US election for precisely this reason.

Nowhere have they stated that COL is over, The messaging is progress is being made but there is still work to do. Not sure where your getting this narrative from sky news?, the problem is there not debunking Dutton when he comes out and overblows the narrative, it's tough and we're working on it but not a disaster etc. There allowing Dutton to set the narrative on this.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

The Libs have an even better trick. They just state an ideology or policy will fix it, even when experts and history tell us it won't.

They'll propose some form of trickle-down economics. It's lying, but they'll never admit it.

Or Nuclear is another example. They're selling it as bringing prices down, while there's not a serious economist in the world who thinks nuclear will be cheaper than any of the alternatives (except maybe bringing gas from Mars).

BUT......They're saying CoL is a problem and that they have a plan. That will defeat the ALP's "CoL is over, fixed it, we're all good now" every day of the week.

But there not saying this though are they, point me to an article or a statement where either Chalmers or Albo have said it's over.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

So your normal borrowing power is usually worked out by adding 3-4% to the current interest rate to protect borrowers in case of a rate rise… this safety net was removed.

This isn't true. What you're referring to is called a serviceability buffer, and it's set by APRA, not the government directly. As I said above, APRA raised the serviceability buffer from 2.5% to 3% in 2021.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

I think Albo knows that a combination of Murdoch, mining interests and US foreign policy are those he must kowtow to.

And how's that kowtowing working out for him?

 

[Chief]

And this wasn't helped by his incredibly stupid policy of leaving tradies off his priority immigration list, before belatedly adding some of them back a year later if they're not highly-paid (which to me is the opposite of how that should work).

I hadn't even heard about that. It sounds like something that should have been welcomed by unions.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

I hadn't even heard about that.

That tells you how pathetic the Australian media is. This should have been making headlines. Having more tradies is critical to building more homes. Building more homes is probably the only way housing becomes affordable, because I can't see the political establishment agreeing to cut skilled immigration by 90% (which would worsen other problems) or put massive restrictions on property investment.

It sounds like something that should have been welcomed by unions.

By the CFMEU, certainly, it's a massive win for them. Their bargaining power is only as high as it is because of the dire shortage of tradies, particularly in the construction sector. It's that bargaining power that's allowed them to negotiate large wage increases. It might have even been a factor in keeping their alleged criminal links under wraps for years.

I can't see why any union that doesn't represent tradies should be happy about it though. Most other sectors have to deal with the reduced wage bargaining power that comes with an increase in the labour supply. In the health sector in particular, the priority visa scheme seems designed to get more aged care workers in on modest wages. Why should tradies be a protected class? They're generally not struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

 

[Chief]

That tells you how pathetic the Australian media is.

TBH I have had less time recently

I get all my news from RM Brown nowadays.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Oh I never said it was change for the better
I just find it interesting that the arguments the supposedly good guys and their supporters always make is that change takes time, has to be done incrementally and slowly

And yet when the other party gets in they have no such contraints

Which means over time things are getting progressively worse and further into the area one party wants it to be

The social media legislation on under 18s was implemented in rapid time when certain players were supportive

 

[Jane Doe]

Its all the media's fault that Albanese is a terrible prime minister

 

[peetoo]

Its all the media's fault that Albanese is a terrible prime minister

….according to the media. You are allowed to think for yourself, you know.

 

[Gralin]

The social media legislation on under 18s was implemented in rapid time when certain players were supportive

yes when they want to do something it gets done very quickly

when they dont it needs a working group, white paper, consultation etc

 

[Festerz]

Commentators predicting the Federal election will be held in early April. Ross Gittins on the issue that should be front and centre of the major party's policy agenda but won't be - Climate Change.



The final paragraph is the kicker:

"From the perspective of our children and grandchildren, the best election outcome would be a minority government dependent on the support of the pollies who do get the urgency of climate action: the Greens and teal independents"

This could be the year voters get their priorities wrong

A protest vote on the cost of living will achieve little. The best election outcome would be a minority government dependent on the support of those who get the urgency of climate action.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Carn The Berries]

Were you too young during the GFC? When has unregulated lending ever worked?

RBA also said interest rates weren’t going to rise for a couple of years…

I bought my first house about 3 months before the GFC. The bank offered us a stupid amount of money. Because we were entering into a contract for someone to lend us half a million dollars, we actually put time and effort into building a budget so that we could understand what we could afford. We ended up borrowing about 60% of what the bank said we could have.

This RBA thing is the biggest cop out of all time. Rates were at ALL TIME LOWS during the pandemic and could only ever go one way. If that put people into mortgage stress in 2023/24, it was going to put them in mortgage stress in 2026.

Seems personal responsibility is going the way of the Dodo...