Biggest problem Labor faces after Anthony Albanese’s new $4m oceanside home revealed

Labor will have an uphill battle with voters in the coming election after Anthony Albanese’s latest buy was revealed this week, an expert claims.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has quashed any potential for Labor to “turn around the empathy deficit” after splashing millions on his new beach home, an expert claims.

It was revealed this week Mr Albanese was in the process of purchasing the $4.3m clifftop home at Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast, where his fiance’s family is from.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom property is touted on Domain as having “uninterrupted ocean and Sydney skyline views” and an “enormous holiday letting potential”.

With house price medians in the millions, RedBridge Director of Strategy and Analytics Kos Samaras said voters could be particularly outraged by the choice of location.

“If it was just a normal house in suburbia … $4 million is probably, in terms of Sydney, would probably be middle of the range these days,” Mr Samaras said.

“So, it’s also location as well. Had it been a home that he bought in the city somewhere, I don’t think we’d be having this discussion, even if it was $4m.

“If it was a $4m home in Manly or parts of Sydney, people would go ‘okay, it's crap when it comes to housing market’ – no one will be having any conversation about this.

“I’m fundamentally of the belief that it’s because of its location. And, look at the place, it’s a nice, nice house, nice views. They all provided terrible optics.”

It has been revealed the Prime Minister is purchasing a home on the NSW Central Coast.

The home is described as having ‘uninterrupted ocean and Sydney skyline views’.

The property is located in Copacabana on the Central Coast where the PM’s fiance is from.

Mr Samaras said the purchase only reinforced a “prejudice that exists within voters minds that politicians from all sides don’t have a problem when it comes to housing”.

“As a result of that, they (politicians) don’t feel the anxiety that they (voters) are feeling at the moment with regards to the price of rentals and mortgages,” he said.

“Albanese’s problem will be now that when he tries to come across as empathetic, it’s going to be extremely hard.

“If the Labor plan to do something drastic to turn around the empathy deficit, which they are suffering from, that’s effectively quashed.”

Mr Samaras did defend Mr Albanese’s timing of the purchase, which he said was “out of control given his personal circumstances”.

“He came across the house that he really wanted to buy … the house may not have been on the market for too long, so one could see why he did it,” he said.

“Equally, it’s probably why other prime ministers have not gone onto the real estate market while in office, because it does send off a strong negative signal to the electorate.

Mr Albanese came under fire for the purchase amid a cost of living crisis. Picture: NewsWire/ Steve Pohlner

“That is why the Coalition is resting on the comment that it is his retirement home, and that he should retire. It’s quite clever, actually.”

The Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss added that millions of young Australians are struggling to repay HECS while paying high rents.

“I think many of them will really struggle to understand how any government employee can afford a $4.3 million house,” he said.

“But the fact is, for those who are old enough and lucky enough to have owned a house for a few decades, the rapid rise in house prices has delivered a huge, tax-free financial windfall,” he said.

“While renters and first home buyers might be experiencing a ‘housing affordability crisis’ millions of older Australians, including the prime minister, have benefitted enormously from recent house price growth.

“For them, the so-called housing crisis is really a bonanza. But, for many, it can more accurately be described as an inequality crisis.”

In Brisbane to make an announcement on housing, Mr Albanese said his wife-to-be was a “proud coastie” and that “when your relationship changes, your life changes”.

He acknowledged he had “been fortunate” and earned a good income as the prime minister, but said he also understood through his mum “what it’s like to struggle”.

Those comments did little to quell controversy surrounding not only the purchase but the timing of it, given Labor is gearing up for the next federal election in 2025.

The property was sold in September for an undisclosed price, according to housing website Domain. Prior to that, the coast house last changed hands in 2021.

The 790m square home features timber-lined cathedral ceilings, open living and dining spaces, and “sun, whale watching or spectacular sunsets year-round”.

The apparent purchase comes after Mr Albanese scuttled a planned auction on October 12 of his rental property in Dulwich Hill, opting instead to list the home.

The Prime Minister stirred controversy when he announced earlier this year he would be evicting long-term tenant Jim Flanagan from the property.

It comes after the PM decided to offload a Dulwich Hill rental property earlier this year. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

Defending the move, Mr Albanese said it was a consolidation of his portfolio before his wedding and that he had let the home at half market rent since Covid.

Despite the controversy, the Prime Minister is far from the only politician – Labor, Liberals, or minor parties – to own multiple properties, some to rent.

Of the 227 sitting MP, at least 75 owned more than two homes, with Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Liberal’s Karen Andrews topping the list with seven each.

Less than one in three federal politicians declared ownership of a single home, the most notable among them being opposition leader Peter Dutton.

Others include Employment Minister Murray Watt, National’s Matt Canavan, Green’s Sarah Hanson-Young, and independent Lidia Thorpe.

Country Liberal Party’s Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Untied Australia Party’s Ralph Babet, and Bob Katter are among a small group who do not own property.