Optics over the cliff as PM splashes out on beach house

That Anthony Albanese is financially secure makes sense. If he weren’t, we’d be asking what he’d been doing and why he hadn’t put aside some form of financial nest egg (“Buying into trouble: PM’s political judgment on a cliff edge”, 16/10).

None of our prime ministers, at least in my time, has lived in a bad house and I would be very concerned if they had.

The Prime Minister has been fortunate to be in a position to buy a $4.3m home on the NSW Central Coast, where prices are mostly around the $2m to $6m range. That amount of money is not a lavish purchase in the region.

There seems to be much flak about his purchase being made when millions are doing it tough in respect to home ownership and the cost of living more generally.

If Albanese has done anything wrong here, it’s in his political judgment.

But this is nothing new for this Prime Minister, who repeatedly has been found wanting. The good news in all of this is that Albanese looks to be preparing for life after Canberra.

We should allow him this opportunity as soon as possible and wish him well on the Central Coast.

John George, Terrigal, NSW

I am no fan of Anthony Albanese and his government. In fact, I hope he gets the opportunity to live permanently in his new house sooner rather than later. But for once he has my full sympathy. He should politely but firmly dismiss his critics concerning his latest purchase. I wish him and his bride-to-be many happy years perched above the Pacific.

Terry Birchley, Bundaberg, Qld

By purchasing a $4.3m holiday house during a cost-of-living crisis, including lack of housing affordability, Anthony Albanese has cast doubt on his political judgment. It also could potentially refocus the spotlight on an overly generous taxpayer-funded parliamentary superannuation scheme.

Rather than predictably recite his log cabin backstory, Albanese could use the opportunity to provide leadership by having a crack at dispensing with a two-tier system, instead pushing for a fairer one-size-fits-all approach to superannuation.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

Some cliches, although overused, can be accurate. One of my favourites is: Not only should your behaviour be proper, it should appear to be proper.

It’s too late now for former prime minister Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese to adhere to this: Morrison took holidays in Hawaii while Australia burned. And the incumbent Prime Minister chose to buy a $4.3m home in an affluent suburb on the NSW Central Coast, Copacabana, with stunning views of the ocean.

It seems as though Albanese is thumbing his nose at the electorate, which can only dream of such luxuries while they struggle to purchase the basics – especially a house.

Paul Hunt, Engadine, NSW

I have to admit to being a little mystified over the reaction to Anthony Albanese’s recent real estate purchase in NSW.

To say I am no fan of the Prime Minister or his government would constitute a massive understatement. Nevertheless, he is the country’s most senior and highest profile politician, a position that, one would suspect, makes enormous demands on the individual concerned and surely merits substantial rewards.

Simple reference to the real estate feature of The Weekend Australian would suggest that, with respect to real estate holdings of the “movers and shakers” segment of our society, at $4.3m this is not a particularly expensive purchase.

Then again, when chief executives of Australia’s major companies make that sort of money (or sometimes multiples) in a single year, or retire with parting gratuities of equal or greater magnitude, there is nary a murmur of discontent and the response is generally one of admiration rather than criticism.

It seems Australia’s love affair with the tall poppy syndrome doesn’t extend to such high flyers.

Isn’t it time that we, as a nation, gained sufficient maturity to acknowledge that the individual who holds the highest political office in the land deserves rewards compatible with that achievement and if the bloke can organise his finances so that he can afford a nice home on the beachfront, surely that is nobody’s business but his?

Bill Pannell, Pemberton, WA