Anthony Albanese and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil have come under fire for a video showing them crammed into a new landlord’s flat to promote Labour’s controversial “help to buy” scheme.
Mr Albanese uploaded the video to his X profile on Wednesday night, which shows himself, Ms O’Neil and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek speaking to Codie, who entered the property market with a five per cent deposit.
The group could be seen gathered inside the kitchen of their new flat, laughing and drinking tea on the patio and generally praising Labour over the First Home Guarantee Scheme.
The scheme allows first-home buyers and single parents to purchase a property with a deposit of five per cent or less, rather than the usual 10 to 20 per cent normally required for a mortgage loan.
In the video, Ms O’Neil asked: ‘Do you think you would have been able to achieve this without the support of the Home Guarantee Scheme?’
Codie replied: “I don’t think so, I really don’t. Saving the 20 percent deposit…”
Ms. O’Neil interrupted: “That’s a huge barrier, isn’t it?”
Codie continued: “It’s a huge barrier, and I guess having to pay that extra mortgage insurance to the lenders would have been an extra burden that I just couldn’t have handled on top of the mortgage and strata payments and everything.”
Lenders’ mortgage insurance (LMI) applies to deposits below 20 per cent, but some states and territories have plans, or will soon have plans, to help buyers avoid the extra cost. It’s another fee that can frustrate first-home buyers, who already face high stamp duty charges in most states.
Australians were unimpressed by the Labor Party video. One questioned whether the video was a joke, while others said the plan failed to address the broader problem of a bloated housing market that is largely unaffordable for young people and renters.
Anthony Albanese is pictured with Codie inside their new apartment, making tea.
Pictured left to right: Anthony Albanese, Codie, Clare O’Neil and Tanya Plibersek in Codie’s new apartment.
One One X user commented on the video, saying, “I honestly thought this was a parody. I had to watch it twice.”
Another said: “A lifetime of being a slave to bank debt due to ridiculous prices.”
A third user wrote: “Immigration has skyrocketed, there’s a housing crisis, there’s a cost of living crisis, but I’m sure they’ll take credit for putting people into debt at the expense of the taxpayers who will just foot the bill for them. That’s what you’ve done.”
Others said the plan only increases demand for home ownership, driving up prices even further.
“We don’t want to compromise with you in our family homes,” wrote one user.
Some also pointed out that X fact-checked Mr Albanese more than once on Wednesday regarding posts about the government’s proposed “help to buy” scheme.
The Prime Minister claimed the Labour bill was “blocked” in the Senate when in fact it had been deferred until October.
Green MP Max Chandler-Mather (pictured) ordered Labour to negotiate on housing plans
On Wednesday, Chandler-Mather issues an ultimatum to the Labour Party: “You have two months to negotiate with the Greens”
Anthony Albanese posted on X saying the Greens and Liberals had voted to ‘block’ the Help to Buy scheme, but his details were verified
The Greens and the Coalition were unlikely allies in a move to delay a final decision on the plan, with Green MP Max Chandler-Mather then issuing an ultimatum to Labor over X.
He said: “A message to Labour: you have two months to negotiate with the Greens on a housing plan that actually helps the millions of people who are struggling. You tried to force a vote to defeat your own flawed bill and failed. Work with the Greens.”
Labor’s Help to Buy plan would allow 40,000 low-income Australians to enter the housing market with a minimum two per cent deposit, without mortgage insurance from lenders.
The government would pay 30 percent of the sale of existing homes and 40 percent of new ones, an amount it could then recoup at the time of sale, along with its share of any appreciation in the property’s value.
The scheme already exists in some states and territories, but Labor’s plan to make it national has come under heavy criticism in the Senate, with the Greens calling for rent increases to be frozen and tax breaks for landlords to be scrapped.
The Labour Party says such demands are unrealistic.
