Anthony Albanese has dodged an embarrassing question concerning his billionaire MP’s luxury property portfolio.
First-term Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton faced intense scrutiny after snapping up a $12 million seaside mansion called ‘The Palm’ in March, just four years after purchasing a 16, $1 million in Bellevue Hill, eastern Sydney, with his lawyer wife.
On Wednesday, during the House’s first question time after the Budget, the government’s new set of cost-of-living measures was put under the microscope.
Opposition Business Director Paul Fletcher has made a joke of Prime Minister Albanese, questioning the $300 energy bill rebate offered to all Australian households.
First-term Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton faced intense scrutiny after snapping up a $12 million seaside mansion called ‘The Palma’ in March.
The four-bedroom house more than 50 kilometers from his electoral area of Parramatta, in western Sydney.
He said: “If we take a typical Australian, let’s call him Andrew, who recently had to move to Parramatta and owns five houses and a newly acquired beach house worth $12 million, will he be eligible for the refund on all of them? Five houses?
The question drew boos and cheers from across the chamber, as heads turned to look for Mr. Charlton.
Mr Albanese did not take the bait and stated in general terms: “They ask me about our energy policies.”
The Prime Minister then set his sights on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who had been calling on him to answer the question.
The $12 million purchase price in Palm Beach is 14.5 times the Australian median house price of $825,923 and is 8.6 times the already very expensive Sydney median house price of $1.396 million .
It marked Dr. Andrew Charlton’s second mansion purchase since purchasing a $16.1 million home in Bellevue Hill in November 2020.
‘Today is full of arrogance and anger (Dutton). Very bad combination, Mr. President.
‘When we had the previous energy price relief plan, they opposed it. They voted against.
‘When it was just people receiving payments, when it was low-income people. “Now that we have an energy price relief plan, which is aimed at all Australians, they too will vote against it.”
Albanese managed to answer the question without directly referencing or mentioning Dr. Charlton.
As well as his two mansions, Dr Charlton also owns a terrace in luxurious Woollahra, also in the city’s east, and lives in a $2 million penthouse in Parramatta, in his new parliamentary seat in western Sydney .
The Oxford University graduate and former United Nations agent’s high-class lifestyle contrasts with that of almost all of his constituents in Parramatta.
He acknowledges his struggles on his Labor Party profile page, lamenting that “…it’s getting harder and harder for people to get ahead no matter how hard they work.”