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

It is true that under the Fraser government the Reserve Bank did not have the independence it has now. That is right, and I think that was a bad policy. That is why when the present government came to power we changed it. But the Leader of the Opposition has forgotten about the Treasurer and later Prime Minister who was interspersed between the Fraser government and the Howard government, and that was a bloke called Paul John Keating. When he was asked about the independence of the Reserve Bank he said: ‘Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got the Reserve Bank in my pocket.’

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