John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am not suggesting that. What I am saying—and let me repeat it again—is that, because of the increase in the cost and value of housing, mortgages have risen very sharply in this country. For example, I am informed that the average mortgage in 1989 was $65,000. That figure is now $220,000 a year. I put it to the Leader of the Opposition that the relevant comparison that ought to be made for the purposes of today’s debate is to look at the interest payment today on the average loan and compare it with what it would have been if the interest rates of earlier years had obtained. The interest rate today on the average loan—

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