Backlash after Australia PM buys A$4.3m house amid housing crisis

Research suggests Australian cities rank among the worst in the world for housing affordability, with Sydney trailing only Hong Kong, according to the 2024 Demographia International Housing Affordability survey, external.

About two thirds of Australian households own a home, but, according to parliamentary disclosures, about 95% of sitting federal politicians own at least one residential property. About a third own three or more.

While some of his colleagues have backed Albanese, several have broken rank to criticise his decision anonymously as being out of step with the public.

“I can’t think of a greater act of self-sabotage in my life,” one Labor MP told the Sydney Morning Herald – who redacted their name “so they could speak freely”.

“If you’re a Labor MP up against a Green at the next election, good luck,” they added.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said Albanese’s purchase highlights the need for reform to lucrative tax incentives for property investors and greater renter protections.

“Labor and the Liberals have created a housing system where a property investor can buy a A$4.3m beachfront home, while millions can’t even find an affordable rental, let alone buy a house of their own,” Chandler-Mather wrote on X.

Liberal Senator Jane Hume said “everybody has a right to a personal life” but questioned “the timing” of the purchase: “This is tone deaf during a housing crisis,” she told Channel 7’s Sunrise programme.

However Opposition Leader and fellow Liberal Peter Dutton declined to criticise Albanese but noted that many Australians were struggling with their own mortgages.