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April 22nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard yesterday toned down her rhetoric against the Reserve Bank after coming under fire for a speech which appeared to put pressure on the board to deliver a rate cut next month.
It followed the publication of excerpts from the speech yesterday to business leaders in Perth, where Ms Gillard put the onus on the bank to cut rates to boost struggling sectors of the economy – prompting a debate about the central bank’s independence.
Ms Gillard was quick to respond to the backlash, refuting claims her government was trying to force the Reserve to cut rates “faster and harder”.
“The Reserve Bank is completely independent from government,” she said.
“What we can do as a government is to have the right budget settings for the economy today, and that is to bring the budget to surplus.”
Finance Minister Penny Wong and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury also sought to clarify the government’s position after the Coalition accused Ms Gillard of trying to con the bank into slashing rates on the back of promises in next month’s budget.
The Reserve Bank board next meets on May 1, a week before the budget is handed down by Mr Swan.
Former Commonwealth Bank CEO Ralph Norris earlier this week attacked the government’s pursuit of a budget surplus as “an almost mindless commitment”.
At the bank’s strategy meeting yesterday, new Commonwealth CEO chief Ian Narev would not be drawn on whether his bank would follow the ANZ, which lifted interest rates by 0.6 per cent last Friday.
“When I’m talking long term I’m unlikely to give short-term answers to questions about interest rates,” he said.
The opposition yesterday turned its attention away from rates to welfare, with shadow treasurer Joe Hockey foreshadowing plans to overhaul welfare if the Coalition wins government, bringing it in line with low-tax, minimal-welfare countries in Asia.
He said the former Coalition government of John Howard had gone too far in spreading benefits to families and wage earners for short-term political gains.
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