New poll reveals 52 per cent of Australians want RBA Governor Philip Lowe gone

As Australia buckles under the latest interest rate hike, new polling has revealed how many people want RBA governor Philip Lowe gone.

More than half of Australians want Philip Lowe’s tenure as Reserve Bank governor to come to an end, a new poll has revealed.

As homeowners across the country buckle under the weight of 12 interest rate rises in 13 months, a poll for the Nine newspapers suggest Australians are at odds with who to blame for high inflation and a slowing economy.

The Resolve survey reveals 33 per cent of voters believe the RBA is the entity responsible for keeping inflation down, while 44 per cent believe the task lies at the feet of the federal government.

But 52 per cent want Governor Lowe – who’s term is set to expire after seven years in September unless Treasurer Jim Chalmers extends his role – to be removed from the role.

Dr Chalmers is expected to announce his decision in the coming months.

RBA Governor Philip Lowe has been in the position since September 2016. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

The polling came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was last week peppered with questions over why the federal budget had assumed interest rates would remain at 3.85 per cent.

“It’s not as incorrect as the one saying there’d be no increases till 2024,” Mr Albanese said last week.

Dr Lowe apologised to Australians in November for telling the country as late as the end of 2021 that the bank would likely hold the cash rate - at the time 0.1 - steady until 2024.

The bank made its first hike in May 2021, and as of last week interest rates are at their highest in 11 years - 4.10 - with economists expecting a few more before the rate can hold steady.

Dr Lowe has maintained raising interest rates is in the best interests of the country, as inflation - currently at seven per cent - rages beyond the 2 to 3 per cent target.

Dr Lowe defended last week’s interest rate hike as ‘necessary’ to return inflation to target. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Asked if he should keep his job, 17 per cent of the survey’s 1600 respondents said Mr Lowe’s term should be extended, while 52 per cent want the government to choose someone else.

In a statement last week, Dr Lowe said inflation had passed its peak, but the latest rate hike would “provide greater confidence” that inflation would return to target “within a reasonable time frame”.

“Some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable time frame, but that will depend upon how the economy and inflation evolve,” he said.

“The board remains resolute in its determination to return inflation to target and will do what is necessary to achieve that.”

Originally published as New poll reveals 52 per cent of Australians want RBA Governor Philip Lowe gone