Locally based Senator Paul Scarr has spoken in the Senate overnight expressing his deep concern with respect to the level of mortgage stress being faced within the Ipswich region.
This follows the release of alarming new data from Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) and last week’s increase in inflation.
The Digital Finance Analytics survey of over 52,000 households revealed that Ipswich is one of Queensland’s hardest-hit regions, with a mortgage stress rate of 70.9%, compared to a Queensland rate of 43.2%.
Senator Scarr said “It was quite extraordinary to see in this report that two of the top four suburbs for mortgage stress in Queensland are where my office is located in the Greater Ipswich region. Ipswich is ranked Number 4 in Queensland and Number 22 across the whole of Australia. So many Queenslanders are doing it tough at the moment under mortgage stress”.
Inflation jumped to 3.2% last week, above expectations and outside the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range. This makes an interest rate cut in the very near future even less likely.
Senator Scarr concluded “As Digital Finance Analytics said in their report, even a 50-basis point cut to interest rates wouldn’t ease the pressure on those households under mortgage stress”.
“My thoughts are with the people of Ipswich at this point in time suffering mortgage stress”.
Since the Albanese Labor Government took office, the cost of living has spiralled out of control. Food prices have jumped 15%, health costs are up 15%, housing has surged 19%, insurance premiums have exploded by 37%, and electricity bills have soared nearly 40%.
