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Opinion

Ross Gittins Economics Editor October 6, 2025 — 5.01am

The Reserve Bank has always denied that its manipulation of short-term interest rates to slow or hasten the growth in demand for goods and services plays any part in worsening the cost of home ownership. But I doubt this.

The biggest and most pressing economic problem Australia faces is nothing new: the ever-worsening ability to afford to own the home you live in. Young people feel this acutely, and it seems to be the single biggest factor causing their growing disillusionment with the deal they’re getting and the democracy that produces an economy run like ours.

In response, there’s a growing view among economists that, however many parts of the economy need reforming, the first thi

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