Anthony Albanese says he knows ‘what it’s like to struggle’ after buying $4.3m home

Anthony Albanese insists he knows “what it’s like to struggle” as he was forced to defend the purchase of a luxury $4.3 million oceanfront mansion while pitching a policy to fast-track affordable homes for struggling families.

The Prime Minister faced fierce public backlash for the purchase — which has come at a time of intense focus on housing affordability amid the cost of living crisis.

Several political insiders have described the revelation as “curious”, particularly while the government is arguing for its plan to help more people into the housing market.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is described in real estate listings as having “one of the most commanding positions” on Copacabana’s cliff top, offering unobstructed ocean views and a peek of the distant Sydney skyline.

“A premier location to enjoy sun, whale watching or spectacular sunsets year-round,” the listing says.

The home is likely to be rented out while Mr Albanese remains prime minister and living at official residences the Lodge and Kirribilli House.

He faced questions about the property deal while announcing an affordable housing project in Jim Chalmers’ electorate of Rankin, home to many struggling families in Brisbane’s outer suburbs.

“Jodie and I are getting married, as is known … when your relationship changes, your life changes and you make decisions,” Mr Albanese said.

“But what I’m focused on is making sure that everyone can get a roof over their head. I’m focused on increased public housing, social housing investment.

“As Prime Minister, I earn a good income; I understand that. I understand that I’ve been fortunate, but I also know what it’s like to struggle.

“My mum lived in the one 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.”

Mr Albanese has exchanged contracts for the clifftop home on the NSW Central Coast and is due to settle later this month. His partner, Jodie Haydon, is from the region although she works in Sydney. The couple plan to marry after next year’s federal election.

The Prime Minister said the sale of his property in inner-city Sydney would contribute to the purchase, which was being made jointly with Ms Haydon.

The Prime Minister, who earns more than $607,000 this year and has been a member of Parliament since 1996, revealed on the eve of the 2022 election that his voting address was registered to his electorate office since his nearby home had been zoned out of his seat of Grayndler.

Mr Dutton – who previously owned several investment properties but has sold them over recent years – said the purchase was a matter for Mr Albanese but the Opposition Leader’s focus was elsewhere.

“They’re obviously planning for the next stage of life, post-politics, and I wish them well in that,” Mr Dutton said.

“But the homeowners in Australia that I’m worried about at the moment are people who can’t afford their mortgages.

“People have had 12 interest rate increases under this government and interest rates should come back, as they’re doing in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand but because of Mr Albanese’s bad economic management, we’re seeing inflation remain higher here, and therefore the interest rates remain higher as well.”

Another Liberal MP said while they wouldn’t dump on the Prime Minister for his personal decisions, it showed the difficulties of trading on his “everyman” image after nearly 30 years in Parliament.

Maiy Azize, the spokesperson for affordable housing campaigners Everybody’s Home, said the Prime Minister was doing something most politicians do in buying a second property in his private life.

“But in his public capacity, he has the opportunity to do so much more on housing and that’s what we should be focusing on. People are hungry for this government to do so much more, something substantial on housing,” she told The West.

The impact of the housing crisis was laid bare over the weekend with analysis from Redbridge polling showing 77 per cent of people thought young people would never be able to own a home unless they had help from their family.

Electorates where more people saw home ownership as unattainable were more likely to be intending to vote for the Coalition.

The Government has a target of building 1.2 million social and affordable homes over the next five years.

But shadow housing minister Michael Sukkar said that had ground to a halt and data pointed to fewer homes being built than over the past five years, worsening the crisis.

However, while he said the Coalition would “build as many homes as we possibly can”, he wouldn’t commit to a target.

The PM’s new house was reportedly sold for $1.7 million in 2017 before being bought by the current owners for $4.65 million in 2021.

Mr Albanese said its settlement was yet to be finalised.

The move comes after Mr Albanese pulled his Dulwich Hill investment property from going to auction last week.

His real estate agent Shad Hassan revealed that with no “firm commitment” from an interested buyer, they decided to instead put an asking price on the home.

When he became Prime Minister, he owned three properties — his family home in Marrickville, a unit in Canberra and an investment property in Dulwich Hill.

He sold the Canberra unit in October 2022 since he no longer needed to stay there while attending Parliament.

In December that year, he declared the Marrickville property was being rented out.

In the previous term of Parliament, while opposition leader, Mr Albanese’s register of interests showed he and former wife Carmel Tebbutt separated their joint ownership of two Marrickville homes, with Mr Albanese taking out a mortgage on one and divesting his interest in the other.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has frequently linked the Prime Minister’s status as a landlord to his reluctance to scrap negative gearing and capital gains tax breaks for property investors.

“Labor and the Liberals have created a housing system where a property investor can buy a beachfront home for $4.3 million while millions struggle to even find an affordable rental, let alone buy a house of their own,” he said on Tuesday.

Nearly three-quarters of workers back reducing negative gearing concessions, a Unions NSW survey revealed.

The union body said the housing market was fundamentally broken when it was easier for people to buy their 10th property than for those on low and middle incomes to buy their first.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said he didn’t begrudge any Australian setting their family up for the future.