A politician who complained about having to live in his car since being evicted from a rental property has been revealed to own a four-bedroom house valued at $831,000.
Western Australian independent MP Wilson Tucker said last week he was forced into homelessness after receiving a baseless eviction notice in late April.
But Tucker failed to mention that he bought a house on an 873-square-metre block in Hamersley, north of Perth, last November, which he rents for about $700 a week.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last weekend, Tucker said he has looked at many places since receiving his eviction notice, but has not been able to find a place to rent.
‘There is certainly a lot of fear and desperation in the market. “There are literally hundreds of people showing up (to look at rentals), competing for a handful of properties… it’s been incredibly frustrating.”
WA MP Wilson Tucker (pictured) has complained about having to live in his car since being evicted from a rental property, but it was revealed he owns a four-bedroom house valued at $831,000.
Representing the mining and pastoral region of Kununurra in WA’s upper house, Tucker “decided to basically pack up and live in my car up north” during the weeks when parliament is not in session.
He said he will stay in hotels when he needs to be in Perth and will spend the rest of the time living in his Prado and in a tent as he tours his electorate, which is 2,205,281 square kilometres.
‘There are some days when it makes sense, if you’re in a more remote location, to pitch a tent. If I stay in a regional town like Kununurra I will probably choose a motel.
But Tucker has now admitted he owns a house just 14 kilometers northwest of Perth’s CBD, but said there were tenants living there when he bought it.
‘I would feel incredibly bad if I made people victims of a market that is incredibly difficult at the moment, and that could mean they were on the streets.
“I’m more than happy to respect their wishes in light of my own, given that I don’t have that many dependents and I’m a bit of a nomad at the moment,” he told Western Australia.
He added that as he may not run again in the next WA election, he was viewing the house as an investment property that he could move into later.
The revelation did not stop Tucker from criticizing the state government for its handling of tenants.
“It is incredibly disappointing that the WA Government has sided with the property industry to the detriment of the 700,000 tenants,” he said, calling for them to “reconsider their position” on rent protection.
“The elephant in the room, the low-hanging fruit here, is to eliminate baseless evictions and bring WA in line with the rest of the country.”
Tucker failed to mention that he bought a house on an 9,000 sq ft block in Hamersley (pictured) in Perth’s north last November and rents it out for about $700 a week.
A State Government spokesperson responded: ‘With the current challenges facing WA’s rental market, it is not in the community’s interests to make it more complex to own and manage a long-term rental property.
“Our state needs more investors in the market and uncertainty about their ability to manage their own assets may hinder increasing supply.”
WA Parliament disclosure rules mean Tucker does not have to declare he bought the house until July.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Tucker for further comment on his living situation.