Joe Hockey's housing comments prompt call for crackdown on politicians using taxpayers' funds to pay off Canberra houses

Updated

Independent senator Nick Xenophon is calling for greater transparency for MPs who use taxpayer-funded allowances to pay off houses in Canberra, accusing the Government of "dog whistling" on home ownership.

The call follows Treasurer Joe Hockey's advice to first-home buyers to "get a good job that pays good money".

When in Canberra, Mr Hockey stays in the exclusive suburb of Forrest at a house he and his wife own.

The house is valued at about $2 million and was bought in 1997 for $320,000.

As a politician, Mr Hockey also legitimately claims a $270-a-night allowance for travel to the capital.

In the past he has rented rooms in the property to other politicians.

Senator Xenophon told the ABC's Lateline program that the public had a right to know how their money was being used.

"If an MP is using their allowance to pay off a home for themselves or for their spouse, I don't think it's unfair to require transparency," he said.

A recently retired senator confirmed to the ABC that it is common practice for politicians in the major parties to buy a house in Canberra and use their travel allowance to pay off the mortgage.

"It's an entirely legitimate entitlement that gets turned into a benefit and an advantage [in the property market]," they said.

Senator Xenophon said he would look at forcing politicians to return some of the profits from selling a Canberra property to taxpayers if they had used public money for their mortgage.

"I like the idea of a portion of that capital gain being put back into Treasury's coffers," he said.

"Although the flip side to that is if the housing market crashes and the MP makes a loss, I don't think taxpayers would want to subsidise a bad investment decision by an MP."

The Treasurer yesterday softened his comments about home ownership, saying he "totally understands" property in Sydney and Melbourne is "very expensive".

Cabinet colleagues also jumped to Mr Hockey's defence, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying Mr Hockey had been working hard to help first home buyers.

But Senator Xenophon said he hoped Mr Hockey's comments were not part of a political strategy to pander to home owners at the expense of renters.

"I certainly hope that the Government isn't hinting that if you're a property owner that's good and if you're a renter that's not so good," he said.

"It just seems to me that the Government might be putting their lips on that dog whistle when it comes to property ownership and that's not a good thing."

Mission Australia urges Government to hold housing summit

Leading social housing provider Mission Australia has urged the Government to immediately convene a summit, saying Australia's housing market is broken.

"As people can't afford to buy their own home, there are more people in the rental market," chief executive office Catherine Yeomans told the ABC's AM program.

"That means people who are on lower incomes, the people that we're working with everyday, also people who are homeless and we're struggling to get into sustainable rental accommodation, we simply can't do that because we actually have a housing crisis right across Australia.

"On any given night there are 100,000 people who are homeless right across Australia."

Ms Yeomans criticised the Treasurer for failing to recognise how many Australians are struggling to afford the basic necessities.

"We really need urgent action and our suggestion is a summit needs to occur as soon as possible," she said.

"Let's get an action plan in place by the end of the year, let the Treasurer chair this summit and take some leadership and address this issue."

Topics: federal-government, housing-industry, housing, government-and-politics, hockey-joe, canberra-2600, australia

First posted