Multinational shares, property portfolio: Greens MPs’ interests revealed
Two Queensland Greens MPs have been revealed to own a sizeable property portfolio or shares in one of the world’s biggest companies, flying in the face of their party’s policies.
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Two of the state’s newly-elected Greens MPs have been revealed to own a sizeable property portfolio or shares in one of the world’s biggest companies, flying in the face of the party’s policies cracking down on real estate investment and multinational companies.
Ryan MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown owns three properties, including a holiday home on the NSW north coast, has an interest in a CBD apartment building, and sold a fifth property in January last year for $925,000.
Brisbane MP Stephen Bates also entered parliament with shares in tech giant Apple, which was ranked as the third biggest company in the world last year, before selling them in July.
Greens policy specifically calls out “investors buying their fifth home” while other families cannot get into their first, and target multinational companies.
It calls for negative-gearing and capital gains tax discounts to be ceased, while its website calls out Apple itself as a “tax dodger”.
The details are revealed in their register of interest recently lodged with parliament and property searches.
Ms Watson-Brown has a residential property in St Lucia, another property in Auchenflower and a holiday home in Hastings Point, while her self-managed super fund has paid a deposit on a Brisbane City apartment.
She also owns shares in Wesfarmers, Coles, NAB and the Commonwealth Bank.
A spokesman for the Ryan MP said the Auchenflower property was not an investment property, despite it not being her principle place of residence and it being rented out.
He said it was rented out as a place of residence to a family member at a third of the market rate and that rent was frozen, while the holiday home was not rented out.
Ms Watson-Brown said in a statement: “It’s vital that we get rid of tax concessions for wealthy investors so that it’s no longer easier to buy your fifth home than your first, and so that everyone is able to have a secure home.”
Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, after media queries sent to the two MPs, posted to social media that his view was that it was a conflict of interest for any politician to own investment properties as they had “strong personal financial interest in rents and house prices continuing to rise”.
“I think in the context of the current housing crisis, it’s especially important for Greens representatives to practise what they preach,” he said.
“Politicians get paid enough as it is. They certainly don’t need investment properties on top of that.”
Mr Bates said he had received the shares “in lieu of fair wage increases” while working for Apple as a retail employee earning $55,000 a year.
“Companies like Apple provide share units in lieu of fair wage increases, on the condition that the employee remains with the company for three years,” he said.
“It’s my experience as an underpaid worker that makes me so passionate about pushing for multinationals to pay their fair share of taxes.”
Griffith MP Max Chandler-Mather had no significant property or share investments.
He recently joked on social media about his 2007 Toyota Yaris, which he dubbed “Bonesy”, failed to meet the threshold of a declarable asset.
Ms Watson-Brown does not have the largest property portfolio of the new Queensland MPs.
The LNP’s Andrew Wilcox, who replaced George Christensen in Dawson, has six properties of his own as well as a handful of trusts and directorship of trustee companies.
His register of interest shows he has also accepted free tickets to the North Queensland Cowboys from Bravus, formerly Adani, and from the Cowboys themselves.
LNP Flynn MP Colin Boyce has shares or other interests in a variety of earthmoving, cattle grazing and family trust operations, as well as explorer and developer of gold projects Emerald Resources.
He also owns five cattle-grazing properties in Taroom and Wandoan, Queensland.
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