Australians Displeased With PM's $2.9M Home Buy

Australia is in the middle of a housing crisis, and many in the country are struggling with the high cost of living. So it may come as no surprise that news of the prime minister spending about $2.9 million on a seaside house perched atop a cliff with panoramic beach views did not go over well. (Sample headline from Reuters: "Australian PM Anthony Albanese launches affordable housing plan, buys $2.9 mln home.") In response to criticism both from his opponents as well as some within his own party, Albanese said he "knows what it is like to struggle" but purchased the four-bed, three-bath mansion (which also has three carports) so that he could be closer to his fiancee's family, the BBC reports.

"My mum lived in the one public housing [home] that she was born in for all of her 65 years," Albanese said at a press conference. He acknowledged he's "fortunate" and is now "better off" than many others in the country, but said, "I know what it is like, which is why I want to help all Australians into a home." Australia is experiencing a housing shortage and has one of the world's priciest housing markets, and as such, Albanese's Labor party plans to build 1.2 million social and affordable homes by 2030. (More Australia stories.)