Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has faced the question of why he does not own a home despite earning more than $233,660 a year.
The Griffith MP, 32, was put on the spot at the national Press Club on Tuesday about why, despite being among the top three per cent of earners in Australia, he still does not own a home.
‘Out of curiosity, you are a very well-paid senator, with a salary of more than $220,000, but you are a renter, why haven’t you bought a house?’ asked Sydney Morning Herald journalist Nick Bonyhady.
Chandler-Mather, a lifelong tenant, revealed that he had been donating a proportion of his income to charity and that his electorate was not allowing him to buy a house.
“Look, honest answer, small family, we’re on one income and I’m giving up about $50,000 of my salary to run all the free meal programs in the electorate,” he said.
‘With that money we serve around 50,000 free meals, including our free weekly breakfast in public schools.
‘My opinion is that when I was elected, I was elected by many people who are low-income tenants and it was wrong for me to not give up a large portion of my salary to low-income people.
‘Because you’re giving up that money and being on one income, and in an inner-city electorate with very, very high median house prices, it’s difficult to buy a house there.
Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather (pictured) was questioned about why he did not own a home despite being among the top 2.3 per cent of earners in the country.
Greens Housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather, pictured with his partner.
“I want to be clear, I’m not the one making it difficult, but I’m answering your question.”
A congressman with a base salary of $233,660 is among the top 2.3 percent of earners.
Greater Brisbane’s median house price of $974,025 would require someone to earn $149,850 just to qualify for a mortgage with a 20 per cent deposit.
But in his electorate of Griffith, an upscale suburb like Bulimba on the Brisbane River has a very unaffordable median house price of $2,068,461.
Someone would need to earn $318,225 – and be among the top 1 percent of earners – to even get a mortgage.
However, Chandler-Mather could probably buy a smaller unit within her electorate.
Earlier, Chandler-Mather became emotional as he spoke about how the housing crisis is affecting his generation after being accused of “letting down young voters” by capitulating to the Labor Party.
Chandler-Mather was questioned by interviewer Sarah Ferguson on Monday night’s episode of ABC’s 7.30 Report about whether the Greens, by agreeing to pass two Labor housing bills, had failed the younger voter base of the party.
Albanese and the Labor Party have accused Chandler-Mather of fomenting outrage over housing to further her own political ambitions (pictured: Chandler-Mather’s infamous altercation with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year).
“Every time we don’t solve the housing crisis, I feel like I’ve let them down a little bit,” said an emotional Chandler-Mather.
‘My first generation will probably be worse off than our parents. I’m deeply sorry.
Mr Chandler-Mather’s voice shook as he revealed that he had “friends who have been kicked out of their homes because they can’t pay the rent or have given up on being able to buy a house”.
And it actually hurts me a lot to see that. I find it very difficult,’ he said.
The Greens delayed the Albanese government’s Help to Buy and Build to Rent bills for months, pushing for changes to tax concessions for property investors and limits on rent increases.
However, they ultimately supported the bills even though these demands were not met.