Greens candidate Alex Bhathal under fire for saying her Preston street is poor

THE Greens candidate for the upcoming Batman by-election is under fire for claiming her Preston street is “poor” — even though her home is worth up to $1 million.

THE Greens candidate for the upcoming Batman by-election is under fire for claiming her street is “poor” — even though her home is worth up to $1 million.

Alex Bhathal lives in Preston, the suburb where soaring house prices inspired Melbourne singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett’s smash hit Depreston.

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The Herald Sun understands Ms Bhathal’s home, which she bought in 1998, is worth almost seven figures after she spent nearly $100,000 on renovations in 2008.

Average property prices for neighbouring houses are about $900,000, but she said in an interview this week that it was “quite a poor street”.

Alex Bhathal has been criticised for not realising her privilege. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian

Labor MP Lisa Chesters said Ms Bhathal needed to realise “how privileged she is to live in a suburb with a median house price of close to a million dollars”.

“That’s not remotely close to anything I would call ‘poor’,” the Bendigo MP said.

“Disadvantaged socio-economic suburbs like Eaglehawk in my electorate have median house prices of $280,000. Many of these homeowners are pensioners and low-paid workers struggling to make ends meet.”

Households in Preston — a key battleground in this month’s by-election — have an average weekly income of $1427, just above the state ­average but below the national average of $1438.

Ms Bhathal told the Herald Sun that many of her neighbours were renters or retired pensioners who had lived there for years.

“The value of their homes may have gone up but their incomes are low ... Wages are stagnating while energy and other costs are rising,” she said.

Singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett had a huge hit with Depreston. Picture: Mark Metcalfe (Getty Images)

“A number of my neighbours frequently run out of money to buy food for themselves and their families.”

She said the Preston street also included public housing properties and transitional accommodation.

“If Labor thinks no one in Batman is doing it tough, then it shows just how out of touch they are,” Ms Bhathal said.

It comes as a 101-page complaint about Ms Bhathal from 18 Greens members, was exposed today.

The Australian reported that she had been accused of bullying, intimidation and branch-stacking, and that the Greens members had called on her to be expelled from the party.

Ms Bhathal denied the allegations today, saying there had been a confidential investigation by the party and that she was confident she had support from the “overwhelming majority” of local Greens members.

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