August 12, 2007
Howard "Sorry"
Last Thursday the Australian Prime Minister said he was sorry.
No, he was not making a belated apology to the aboriginal inhabitants of this land. He has taken an altogether different tack in relation to them. Howard was saying that he was sorry that interest rates had risen again. He wasn't commenting on his government's role in the fifth rise in interest rates since the last election. Journalists didn't let the PM off, though. Peter Hartcher, in The Sydney Morning Herald alluded to a comment from Chris Richardson, of Access Economics, that emphasised how the federal government's tax cuts have contributed. Richardson painted a farcical picture, remarking that "the Government is throwing money into the economy and the Reserve Bank is trying to take it out again. We have one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake. No wonder we're blowing smoke."
Three years ago the Liberals ran a scare campaign, trying to frighten the electorate about what might happen to interest rates if Labor got in. This time round, having tried to blame the states for rising interest rates, as well as trying to cast the latest interest rate rise as a demonstration of how healthy the economy is, the Liberals are leaving that scare campaign to a business lobby group.
I do hope the polls accurately forecast what will happen on election night. In this scribe's humble opinion it would be poetic justice for Howard to not only lose government, but lose his seat!
Posted to Politics by Keith Pitty