Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to buy a $4.3 million (US$2.8 million) home in a pristine beachside suburb between Newcastle and Sydney has drawn national attention during the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
The Australian leader is believed to have made the purchase with fiancée Jodi Haydon.
The New South Wales (NSW) oceanfront mansion was listed as sold on Sept. 23, the same day Albanese gave a press conference where he talked about the cost of living and housing issues.
The Copacabana home sold to the prime minister for much more than the $1,905,000 median house price in the area.
Real estate statistics also show the home has grown in value—being listed at just over $1.5 million in 2004—before being sold again in 2017 for just over $1.7 million.
Albanese did pay slightly less for the home than its last sale price, however. In 2021 the house sold for more than $4.6 million.
The property includes panoramic cliffside ocean views and cathedral ceilings, while the main bedroom comes with a spacious ensuite and walk-in wardrobe.
The leader told reports he was aware he was “much better off” than the average Australian following news of the purchase.
“But I also know what it’s like to struggle,” he told reporters on Oct. 15.
“My mum lived in the public housing that she was born in for all of her 65 years. And I know what it’s like, which is why I want to help all Australians into a home, whether it be public homes, or private rentals, or home ownership.”
‘Lack of Care’ in Politics: Businessperson
Businessman and former Liberal Party state executive Matthew Camenzuli took to X to respond.“It is not the purchase of a $4.3 million cliff-top mansion that bothers me about Anthony Albanese, it is not the fact that he expects us to believe that he is worried about climate change as he buys on absolute oceanfront,” he wrote.
“It is not that he preaches about the cost of food and groceries, as he does nothing about the structural problems with the economy—like the fuel and other excises; watches the flames of NDIS engulf the real economy, as the fuel of government borrowing and spending, turns the whole thing into an inferno,” Camenzuli added.
“It is not the hypocrisy that bothers me, it is the fact that nobody seems to care about Australia, Australians, or our place in the world.”
