So the Prime Minister bought a $4.3 million coastal holiday home, which he and his (future) second wife plan to call home when he retires from politics.
Is there anything wrong with that? The answer is, of course, no. Albo can do whatever he wants with his own money.
As long as you don’t break the law, you can choose to spend it however you want, whenever you want, and on any purchase you decide to make.
Which may include a five-bedroom beachfront property on the New South Wales Central Coast.
It’s your money to waste or spend as wisely as you choose. You can go to the racetrack and bet it all on a longshot bet. Invest in the Argentine peso for all I care.
Critics of the Prime Minister’s property purchases are wrong if they begrudge him the fact that he can afford such property. That would be the personification of tall poppy syndrome.
If those critics are partisan, they are also hypocritical if they are not willing to level similar criticisms at Coalition MPs.
But defenders of what happened also miss the point if they simply claim that no one has the right to conclude that the timing of the purchase and the possible political implications were a bad decision by Albo.
I fall into the category of someone who doesn’t care how much he spends on a new house, but I am stunned that he did it now, before his bid to win a second term as Prime Minister.
Because, whether someone likes it or not, it looks bad, at least in the eyes of some.
Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon will retire to a new home on the New South Wales Central Coast and he will enjoy the benefits of his parliamentary pension.
Mr. Albanese’s new five-bedroom home has panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and is just down the street from Copacabana Beach.
A real estate photo of the new home of Mr Albanese and his future wife Jodie Haydon
The story broke on the day the Prime Minister announced Labour’s affordable housing policy. What an awkward moment that was.
The purchase also comes amid a cost of living crisis. As homeowners struggle with high house prices, inadequate supply and high interest rates. Of course, the purchase will cause some resentment.
With opinion polls suggesting a close election looms, what message does the fact that Albo is already preparing for his retirement send?
Many won’t care, but inevitably some will. That’s why scheduling your purchase now is just plain stupid, arrogant, or out of touch. Or all three.
It is not unreasonable to argue that this suggests that Albo has already retired after almost 30 years in politics.
Even some of his own colleagues interpret the purchase this way.
I also get the impression that the Prime Minister and his closest supporters can’t understand why he doesn’t get due respect for his rags-to-riches life story.
And why doesn’t it serve as political permission to buy an expensive property.
Born and raised on the housing commission, Albo now lives in The Lodge as First Minister. As stories about rising from the bottom up go, it’s a pretty inspiring story.
Although given how little regard most Australians have for politicians, according to polls, it may not be as inspiring a story as those of us immersed in politics like to think.
The fact that Albo can’t seem to shut up probably irritates some people, too.
Anthony Albanese often evokes that a single mother raised him on a housing commission: a rather inspiring story that is often told
Because his rags-to-riches story is a story of how he always benefits from the state’s largesse.
Even if, as Australians, we appreciate the importance of our welfare system, if you’re not an ideological supporter of Albo, you might not be as enamored with the story.
Think about it: Albo benefited from state housing, the warm embrace of the Catholic Church that paid his private school fees, and free university tuition funded by Whitlam-era largesse that no longer exists.
Then, as a young adult, Albo embarked on his political career.
That career began with taxpayer-funded political staff positions, before moving to the senior ranks of the Labor Party bureaucracy.
The Labor Party, of course, enjoys public funding, like most political parties.
All of which culminated in a nearly 30-year career in parliament, working as a taxpayer-funded politician.
When Albo retires to his beachfront mansion, he will enjoy further taxpayer-funded largesse, courtesy of the former parliamentary super plan, which will pay him approximately $450,000 tax-free each year until he leaves this earth. It certainly contributes to a comfortable retirement.
Therefore, Albo’s harshest critics would say that he will be in the public tit from the cradle to the grave.
Albanese went to university at the time when the Whitlam government established free university tuition.
As an MP for almost 30 years, Albanese’s salary was, of course, paid by the taxpayer.
Now let’s be clear about this: whether you like or loathe Albo, including the work he has done as prime minister and before during his long career in parliament, I have no doubt that he has worked hard and, obviously, has gone well.
I also don’t like the fact that new generations of prime ministers won’t get generous lifetime parliamentary pensions like Albo will. They should do it.
But it’s also not hard to see why some Australians don’t praise the kind of career Albo has had as a feel-good success story.
Some will see it as a lifetime of living off the taxpayer, that’s all.
He didn’t invent anything, work multiple jobs to pay the bills, risk everything on a small business, or devote himself to a lifetime of charitable endeavors.
Reason, perhaps, for Albo to stop talking endlessly about his local rags-to-riches story.
Because at this point, everyone knows his backstory. Those who are inspired by him need not be reminded.
But to those who aren’t, the more they are told about it, in a self-congratulatory way by the man himself, the more likely they are to become resentful.
And when it comes to decisions like purchasing a multimillion-dollar oceanfront mansion, it’s no surprise that some people get discouraged.
I’m not one of them. I have been very fortunate financially in my life.
But I do think it was politically stupid for Albo to buy such an expensive property located by the water this side of the election, not after.
Incidentally, that is also what most of the Prime Minister’s Labor colleagues think privately.
But for a politician who has already said one thing before the election only to break his promises and do something different afterwards – which Albo has already done on everything from income tax cuts to retirement – is it really so exaggerated to expect him to be smart enough? Delay purchasing an expensive property until after the next election?
The fact that he wasn’t willing to do that, at best, suggests that he’s a firm guy who isn’t willing to cheat. Despite having done so intentionally in the past when it comes to political setbacks.
Or it could suggest that he is arrogant enough to believe he can get his way politically, or that he already has one foot out the political door. Or both.
Whichever way you look at it, it is at least a distraction at a time when Labor needs Albo to be at his best to build election-winning support and secure a second term for the ruling Labor Party.
