More light and less heat would be appreciated at Philip Lowe’s next grilling on Friday

Philip Lowe was empathetic but not apologetic about interest rate hikes, saying his role is to bring inflation under control, as unpopular as that might be. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

There’s no doubt that the Reserve Bank governor’s appearance before Senate estimates on Wednesday was good theatre.

Dubbed by one media outlet as Australia’s “most-loathed banker”, Philip Lowe parried questions from mostly hostile senators demanding to know why the central bank had inflicted a record nine interest rate rises in a row, with more to come.