An emotional Peter Dutton says he understands just how dire the nation’s housing crisis has become, revealing that his dream of buying a twenty-seventh property may be forever out of reach.
“I’m 54 now, and you look ahead and you think, am I forever going to be someone who has only ever owned twenty-six properties? That’s probably the reality for me now. It’s tough to take. So I definitely feel the pain of ordinary Australians trying to make their way through the housing crisis,” Dutton said in an interview.
The Liberal Party leader said he could see himself renting for a long time to come. “Not on my principal residence, on my Canberra flat. I can claim back $310-a-night on my allowances of course, but the paperwork is a nightmare”.
Despite his hardships, Dutton acknowledged that some people had it worse. “I know some colleagues who only have three or four investment properties. They’re really on struggle street. It’s getting out of hand”.
With housing a key issue in the upcoming election, Dutton rejected claims he did not have a housing policy. “I actually have a very clear, fully costed housing policy. It’s buy cheap, negatively gear, maximise rent, then sell for a profit”.
