Australian taxpayers will contribute $100 million to modernizing the main road leading to Anthony Albanese’s new $4.3 million waterfront mansion.
Mr Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon bought the four-bedroom house in Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast ahead of the couple’s wedding.
The timing of the purchase has been criticized as politically deaf because it comes amid a housing shortage that is pushing prices to record levels, and a general crisis in the cost of living.
Mr Albanese was also questioned by Sky News presenter Sharri Markson about whether he was planning to buy a house in the area when he announced the taxpayer-funded upgrade of Avoca Drive, a thoroughfare between Copacabana and the Pacific Highway that leads to Sydney.
He initially pledged $30 million for the project during the 2022 federal election campaign, but in February 2023 he increased funding by another $70 million, bringing the total to $100 million.
Construction of the upgrade to Avoca Drive is expected to begin in mid-2025.
Avoca Drive is the main thoroughfare Mr Albanese would use when traveling between Sydney and his new home.
Mr Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon (pictured) bought the multi-million dollar home, perched on a cliff top in Copacabana, on the NSW central coast, as their retirement home.
Labor MPs have criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for purchasing a $4.3 million home, with many claiming it was ‘stupid timing’ and showing his lack of social understanding
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said the road funding was completely unrelated to his purchase of the house.
“The Albanian government has provided a record amount of road infrastructure funding to ensure Australians everywhere have better roads to drive on,” she said.
The property purchase has angered some Labor MPs, who say it will be electorally damaging to the party.
“It shows his lack of political and social understanding of what people, especially in western Sydney, are experiencing,” one MP told the Daily Telegraph.
Another MP said the “stupid” timing ahead of next year’s elections indicated Albanese had “already checked out” and was “already thinking about the future.”
Top Australian analyst Kos Samaras said Albanese was jeopardizing the support of crucial voting groups by flaunting his wealth at a time when more Australians were struggling to make ends meet.
“In a country where we are now all wondering which tribe you belong to, he has projected very clearly that the low-income constituencies on which Labor depends are not part of his tribe,” Samaras said.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather, who has previously exchanged sharp words with the Prime Minister over his property portfolio, said the purchase of the luxury home represents the deep problems with housing.
“Labor and the Liberals have created a housing system where a real estate investor can buy a $4.3 million beachfront home, while millions of people can’t even find affordable rentals, let alone buy their own home,” Chandler said Mather.
Mr Albanese said his government is trying to reduce the housing shortage.
“What I’m focused on is delivering more homes to Australians,” he said in Hobart on Wednesday.
“This is about helping 40,000 Australians buy their own homes, and I don’t understand why the Liberals, Nationals or Greens won’t vote for it.”
The government has tried to get policy through parliament that would allow first home buyers to get a lower deposit on a home, but this was blocked in the Senate by the coalition and the Greens.
The next federal election is scheduled for May, with house prices and food sector inflation set to dominate the campaign.