There have been countless news stories and opinion pieces since Tuesday when it emerged that Anthony Albanese and his partner had purchased a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, cliff-top pad on the NSW Central Coast. But should anyone care if the prime minister buys a $4.3 million house?
In today’s Friday Fight Crikey’s political editor Bernard Keane argues in the negative and columnist Rachel Withers makes the affirmative case.
It doesn’t matter if you, dear reader, care that the prime minister has bought a $4.3 million clifftop beach house.
It doesn’t matter if you are personally thrilled for Anthony Albanese, or if you think us naysayers are just jealous. It doesn’t matter whether you think this unfair, because Peter Dutton made lots of money off property, and why are we picking on Albo who grew up poor???
It doesn’t matter if you’re convinced this is a media beat-up, or that you relate to Albanese, as a boomer who also lucked into property wealth. It matters not that Annabel Crabb has a nice house, as an endless stream of X accounts complained after she analysed the situation, as is her job.
This story matters because people are suffering, losing hope, giving up on the Australian Dream, and, by extension, Labor… and the PM looks utterly disconnected from it all.
It matters because Albanese made growing up in public housing his calling card, yet failed to make housing an urgent priority, unable to grasp that no one born into his circumstances today could ever hope to acquire what he has. It matters because unlike the Coalition, for whom affluence is a virtue, the PM promised no one would be “left behind” — so much for that.
It matters because optics do; because the PM buying a multimillion-dollar property, when he lives for free in two taxpayer-funded ones and owns two more, six months out from a housing crisis-fueled election, shows appalling political judgment.
And it’s the height of arrogance to dismiss that, even if it doesn’t bother you.
Don’t take my word for it. Labor MPs told Nine they were “gobsmacked” at the purchase, with one saying people had tried to stop him (“I can’t think of a greater act of self-sabotage in my life,” they said, fearing for any colleague “up against a Green”). The AFR reports internal frustrations, with sources confirming Albanese was advised against the purchase, while the ABC has a senior figure calling this his “Hawaii moment”: “Rents are on fire, mortgages are on fire and Albo is just working out his Rancho Relaxo.”
The Australian and Guardian Australia have government MPs spitting chips, with some seeking to put negative gearing and capital gains back on the table in order to convince voters Labor is “sincere” on housing (no such luck). “Max will be salivating over this,” said one MP, while “several” made clear Jim Chalmers was their preferred successor (uh oh). The Coalition is making a beachside meal of this, unsurprisingly: Liberal deputy Sussan Ley is throwing around the phrase “out of touch” (sans irony), while National leader David Littleproud has accused the PM of being “focused on himself” rather than on the cost of living crisis.
Let’s say, for argument’s sake, this is a beat-up: that no one outside the Canberra bubble actually cares (though talkback radio, social media, and my group chats would disagree). Why make this unnecessary purchase now, knowing the storm that would ensue, knowing your enemies would use it against you? Perhaps the clearest reason for Labor fans to care is the fact Albanese obviously didn’t, as he barrelled into a political own-goal amid a protracted slide in the polls. No wonder people are wondering if he’s on his way out.
This issue will fade from the headlines, as things inevitably do. But there’s a chance the perception of the PM as an out-of-touch elite who pulled up the ladder behind him — while repeatedly reminding people that he was poor 50 years ago — will linger in the minds of those who otherwise pay little attention. Perhaps they will assume that Albo once cared, but no longer does; perhaps it will merely solidify the idea that all politicians, including this one, are in it for themselves.
Those who think it’s their job to defend Albanese can go on hurling abuse at individual journalists (and cartoonists) until they are blue in the face (though leave Leo out of this). But it won’t change the fact that so many Australians are at breaking point, with piecemeal housing policies unlikely to help.
All of this calls to mind a speech Albanese gave on the first day of the 47th Parliament.
“You’re not here for that long, none of us will be,” he said to colleagues, his voice breaking, in words he reportedly ad-libbed after hearing from Ngambri-Ngunnawal elder Paul House. “And when you’re sitting on the porch, thinking about what you did, you can either have a source of pride, or a source of regret… Make it a source of pride.”
Anthony Albanese may not be in Parliament all that much longer. But he’s certainly going to have one spectacular sunlight-bathed deck to do that thinking from, as he ponders to himself whether it was all worth it.
Read the opposing argument by Bernard Keane.
