WITH Australians heading back to work facing soaring petrol prices and the threat of another interest rate rise, the man in charge of the country remains holed up in his plush new Sydney home.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is on leave until Monday, is staying at Kirribilli House where he is "using the time to prepare for the year", according to a spokeswoman.
"He's at Kirribilli going through Government briefings, preparing for the year," she told The Daily Telegraph.
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Meanwhile it has been left to Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan to weather the storm about rising petrol prices and the controversial decision by three of the top five banks to lift variable mortgage rates independent of the Reserve Bank.
Across Sydney and NSW yesterday the price at the bowser nudged $1.50. In Hillston near Griffith out west, the price broke through the barrier.
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Today homeowners with a Commonwealth Bank variable home loan will suffer as their home loan rate rises by 0.10 per cent, to 8.67 per cent.
The National Australia Bank last week raised its variable rate by 0.12 per cent to 8.69 per cent. More contentious was ANZ's decision to raise its home loan rate 0.2 percentage points to 8.77 per cent. And analysts believe Westpac Bank and St. George Bank customers will suffer similar pain before long.
Former treasurer Peter Costello attacked Mr Swan for letting banks take advantage of his inexperience.
"They've taken the opportunity of a new treasurer who is not on top of the job to increase their margins, and he came out and on behalf of the Labor Party he approved it," Mr Costello said.
Yesterday Mr Swan said the banks' increases were "unavoidable given what is occurring in terms of the fallout from the US subprime crisis".
Earlier this week, the Treasurer said he was confident Australia could weather the worst of the subprime storm. Mr Swan spoke to US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson about the problems in the subprime market, which has had a flow-on impact for Australian financial institutions.
"We are well placed to ride out the turbulence . . . but we are not immune from it and that is what we are talking about now," Mr Swan said.
Treasurer of Australia Wayne Swan. 
Australia's Opposition Party laid blame for recent interest rate increases at the feet of new federal treasurer Wayne Swan. Swan, in turn, criticised the banks, saying they risk being "judged very harshly" if they "try to take advantage of the U.S. sub-prime crisis by lifting interest rates excessively."

Following the National Australia Bank (NAB) lifting its rates 0.12 percent independently of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Swan consulted with Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which monitors bank liquidity, and was advised that rises of around 0.1 percent were reasonable.

However, following his moderate response to NAB's rise, ANZ Bank announced a 0.2% rise, prompting Swan's warning. Since then other banks, including Westpac, BankWest and Bendigo Bank, have announced rises between 0.1 and 0.2 percent, while St.George Bank lifted its rates by 0.2 percent.

Former Howard government treasurer Peter Costello criticised Swan as inexperienced, saying, "They've taken the opportunity of a new treasurer who is not on top of the job to increase their margins, and he came out and, on behalf of the Labor Party, he approved it." While opposition treasury spokesman, Malcolm Turnbull claimed the treasurer was "all over the shop."

HSBC chief economist Dr John Edwards said, "It is all a learning experience for him but it is very difficult to say anything that is less than critical about the banks. The ANZ was the real lesson for Swan because they betrayed his belief, which was probably well informed, the banks would be reasonable and keep any rise to about the level imposed by the NAB."