RBA meets as Liberals unveil help for first home buyers

Peter Dutton is set to hammer the Albanese Government over the fact homeowners are $50,000 worse off on the typical mortgage since the last election.

D-Day has arrived over the fate of an election campaign rate cut, with Peter Dutton set to unveil new policies to make it easier to enter the housing market without help from “the Bank of Mum and Dad.”

As the RBA prepares to announce the big decision, the Liberal leader is set to hammer the Albanese Government over the fact homeowners are $50,000 worse off on the typical mortgage since the last election.

Warning that regulatory reforms introduced in the wake of the global financial crisis have made it harder for first home buyers to access loans, the Coalition will pledge to reset lending rules.

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“Right now, Australians without access to the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ are punished by higher borrowing costs — even when the actual risk is the same or lower,’’ opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar told news.com.au.

“That’s a systemic bias in favour of inherited wealth. We will remove it.

“Labor’s financial system is locking too many Australians out of home ownership — not because they can’t afford a mortgage, but because the rules are too inflexible.

“We will make it clear that APRA must consider the impact of its rules on access to housing— particularly for first-home buyers.

“That means reducing the overly cautious serviceability buffer, which was introduced when rates were near zero but remains unchanged even as the cash rate sits above four per cent.

“Additionally, we will support the work being undertaken by APRA to clarify the treatment of HELP debt in regard to serviceability assessments.”

Treasurer hoses down expectations

The Albanese Government is desperately trying to manage expectations as economists predict homeowners will have to wait until May.

Asked if the campaign might “stall” if rates stayed on hold, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that was not the case.

“Almost nobody in the market expects there to be an interest rate cut tomorrow, so we’re up front about that, but the markets do expect that there will be more interest rate cuts,’’ he said.

“Interest rates have already started to come down on our watch. When we came to office, inflation and interest rates were rising. Now, inflation and interest rates are falling, and we’ve made a lot of substantial progress on inflation together as Australians.

Peter Dutton. Picture:Thomas Lisson / NewsWire

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“I don’t know anyone who’s expecting an interest rate cut, but interest rates have already started to come down on our watch, and what that means is the progress that we’ve made the last three years in government, and as Australians.

“Inflation is down, real wages are up, unemployment is low, debt is down, interest rates have started to come down, and growth is rebounding solidly in our economy as well.”

Currently, the cash rate target is 4.1 per cent. Economists at the NAB are the most optimistic of all the big banks predicting a rate cut at this meeting or in May.

The Commonwealth Bank is also predicting another cut in May while Westpac is holding out for a June rate cut.

The meeting on Monday and Tuesday is the first time the new independent board which now includes Australian National University professor Renee Fry-McKibbin and former Bendigo and Adelaide Bank boss Marnie Baker has met to decide interest rates.

Inflation figures

The ABS has just dropped the latest inflation figures last week and it shows inflation has fallen from 2.5 per cent in January to 2.4 per cent.

That suggests the inflation rate is reducing – slowly – to remain within the Reserve Bank’s target range.

The new figures will be factored into the RBA’s next meeting on interest rates on April 1.

Trump threat to Aussie interest rates

Economists have predicted the RBA is likely to leave rates on hold at its April 1 meeting after Labor got a pre-poll boost in February out of the first rate cut since 2020.

But the prospect of a rate cut on Tuesday is also under pressure as the world waits nervously over US President Donald Trump’s latest call on tariffs.

Overnight, there were reports in the Wall Street Journal that Mr Trump is considering 20 per cent tariffs on all imports, sparking fears of a worldwide market bloodbath.

Mr Trump is set to unveil his plan for reciprocal tariffs, a plan that could even see Australia punished for having a GST. But under one wild option being considered he would simply slap a 20 per cent impost on everyone to make the policy “big and simple.”

Donald Trump. Picture: AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez

Speaking in Brisbane, Treasurer Chalmers said the government takes “no outcome for granted” when it comes to decisions taken by the Administration in the US.

“We will continue to stand up for and speak up for Australia’s interests, whether it’s the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or our other industries,’’ he said.

“We have been engaging whenever and wherever we can, to speak up for and stand up for Australia’s interests.

“We are not uniquely impacted by the tariffs which have been applied or which are being speculated upon, but we are a trading nation, and so we will continue to make our case, continue to engage where we can, and no doubt, the outcome of the deliberations in DC will be known before long.”

Peter Dutton’s warning on rates

Peter Dutton has been highlighting the fact that a family on a typical mortgage has been forced to make an extra $50,000 in interest payments since the Albanese Government was elected.

“In Brisbane, I listened to a young couple in their 30s who have moved back in with their parents because they simply can’t buy a home – even though both of them are working overtime,’’ he said last week.

“Such stories have now become commonplace across the country.

“Stories of rent and mortgage stress. Stories of power, shopping, and insurance bills going through the roof.

“Stories of home ownership being out of reach for so many.”

Originally published as RBA meets as Liberals unveil help for first home buyers