Anthony Albanese has been questioned over his recent purchase of a $4.3 million waterfront mansion amid Australia’s housing crisis.
The Prime Minister is the proud new owner of the five-bedroom hotel in Copacabana on the New South Wales Central Coast.
Albanese will share the cliffside home with his fiancée Jodie Haydon, whose family lives in the area.
The Prime Minister was asked by a Sky News reporter if he thought his new purchase was a “good look” amid the cost of living crisis on Tuesday morning, during an announcement on policies to ease the housing crisis in Logan, Queensland.
‘Jodie and I are getting married. Jodie is a coastal. “She’s a proud Coastie – there are three generations of Haydons on the coast and when your relationship changes, your life changes and you make decisions,” he replied.
‘But what I’m focused on is making sure everyone can have a roof over their heads. I am focused on increasing investment in public housing and social housing.’
The journalist noted that Mr. Albanese’s sprawling home with ocean views and cathedral ceilings was “very different” from the modest family home.
‘I am much better off as prime minister… as prime minister I have a good income. I understand that I have been fortunate,” said Mr. Albanese.
The Prime Minister is the proud new owner of the five-bedroom hotel in Copacabana on the New South Wales Central Coast.
The house sits right at the top of the cliff on a 790 square meter lot and is just a walk from the beach.
Reporters pressed Albanese about his new purchase Tuesday morning.
‘I also know what it’s like to fight. My mother lived in the only public housing (flat) in which she was born for all of her 65 years.’
Albanese said he planned to be at his current job “for a very long period of time” when asked if he would retire at the Copacabana property.
The clifftop home sits on a 8,000-square-foot lot and just steps from the beach, with ocean views from nearly every room in the house.
Having grown up in public housing, Mr Albanese now enjoys an impressive property portfolio.
His other assets include a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Dulwich Hill and a Federation house in Marrickville.
Albanese’s purchase of Copacabana sparked debate on social media, with several Australians pointing out that the prime minister was purchasing his luxury properties during a severe housing shortage, with skyrocketing rents and high interest rates hurting many incumbents. of mortgages.
Albanese plans to live at the Copacabana property with his fiancée Jodie Haydon
However, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton did not directly criticize the Albanese purchase during a media appearance, wishing the Prime Minister and Mrs Haydon well.
“They’re obviously planning for the next stage of life, post-politics, and I wish them the best in that,” he said.
‘It is the The homeowners in Australia I worry about: the people who can’t pay their mortgages.
Mr Dutton himself has an extensive property portfolio – with Daily Mail Australia valuing it at 4.5 million dollars in 2022.
One observer said of Mr. Albanese’s online purchase: “I don’t envy a person who can afford to buy a house worth that much, what I do envy is that the same person tries to tell the general population he represents that he understands the pressures that are under’.
“It’s good to know he’s a normal fighter,” another joked.
“Labor politicians are simply too rich and too distant to understand the everyday struggles of real Australians,” said a third.
‘It’s your money. He earned it legally and can do with it whatever he wants, just like the rest of us. “This is still a free country,” said another.
