Make no mistake. Albanese’s subtle RBA sledge is calculated populism

October 31, 2026 — 5:00am

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Anthony Albanese’s decision to criticise the Reserve Bank’s use of its sole “blunt instrument”, interest rate rises, confirms the prime minister and his government are feeling the pressure over the economy.

With the bank expected to raise interest rates for the fifth time this year next Tuesday (and the 17th time since Labor took office), Labor’s management of the economy is under scrutiny like never before and Treasurer Jim Chalmers, in particular, is feeling the heat.

Day after day in question time, the opposition targets Chalmers and (optimistically) suggests it’s time for Albanese to give his treasurer the flick.

That’s not going to happen, but Albanese’s near-unprecedented intervention in this masthead – criticising the bank’s series of interest rates, the only tool at its disposal, to try to bring price growth under control – is a deliberately populist move, and one designed to take the heat off Chalmers.

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has herself used the term........

© The Sydney Morning Herald