In the middle of the housing crisis Australian prime minister outraged by purchase of multi-million property
In the midst of a housing crisis Down Under, the Prime Minister is treating himself to a house by the sea for several million dollars. For the opposition, this is unacceptable. He himself sees no problem with it.
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- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shows bad timing and little compassion for the needs of the population.
- In the midst of a nationwide housing shortage, he acquires a luxury property by the sea in a suburb of Sydney.
- A general election is due next May, and Albanese's Labor Party is seeking a second three-year term in office.
- The opposition is delighted to have the opportunity to criticize him.
In the midst of a nationwide housing shortage, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acquired a seaside property worth millions, earning him harsh criticism.
Albanese's house purchase shows that he is "out of touch with reality", said MP Sussan Ley from the opposition conservative Liberal Party. Her colleague Angie Bell described the Prime Minister's timing as questionable. Behind closed doors, members of the ruling Labor Party are also said to have expressed concerns.
Albanese on Wednesday brushed aside criticism of the purchase of his new home, which cost 4.3 million Australian dollars (around 2.4 million Swiss francs) and is set in a picturesque setting on a hillside in the Pacific suburb of Copacabana, north of Sydney. "We want to continue to help Australians, whether with social housing, rental housing or buying their own homes," he explained.
Image as a man from humble beginnings damaged
Many Australians are struggling to find affordable housing in times of rising interest rates, rising prices and limited supply on the real estate market. In Copacabana and several other suburbs with beaches in Sydney, prospective buyers have to put several million Australian dollars on the table for houses by the sea. The winning bid is often made by wealthy buyers who already have houses in the city or want to take it easy in the suburbs.
A general election is due next May in Down Under, and Albanese's Labor Party is seeking a second three-year term in office. The housing shortage is likely to be at the top of the agenda in the election campaign, which is why the prime minister's house purchase is politically risky for him, explained Zareh Ghazarian, a political scientist at Monash University in Melbourne.
Albanese is also damaging his image as a man from humble beginnings. The prime minister likes to point out that he once grew up in a council apartment with a single mother and therefore knows about the financial hardships of low-income families.
dpa
