Australia’s leaders have a history of making homes in opulent mansions but Anthony Albanese’s recent $4.3m splurge on a beach house is among the more lavish for a sitting prime minister.
The country’s former prime ministers have homes that are far more valuable than the clifftop house in Copacabana that Albanese snapped up in September but most bought them after leaving office.
Others remain in more modest properties they purchased long before taking up the country’s top job – albeit within suburbs where home values have skyrocketed over recent decades.
A review of the private homes of the country’s past nine prime ministers showed they had properties ranging in current value from $2.25m-$150m.
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Anthony Albanese’s new home has ocean views. Picture: Realestate.com.au
For some perceptive, the average Aussie home is currently worth about $850,000.
Mr Albanese was this week revealed to have purchased his clifftop Copacabana home last month and is due to soon settle. The home with a pool is near the beach.
Here’s how the current Prime Minister’s new home compares with his predecessors:
SCOTT MORRISON
Former PM Scott Morrison is seen leaving his home in Sydney. Picture: Gaye Gerard
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The home is estimated to worth about double the current value of Albo’s predecessor Scott Morrison, who resides in the Sutherland Shire house he bought with wife Jenny in 2009 for $920,000, now worth about $2.25m.
TONY ABBOTT
Former PM Tony Abbott’s family home pictured in 2013. Picture: Jeremy Piper
Mr Albanese’s new home is also much pricier than the northern beaches home Tony Abbott has owned since 1994. Mr Abbott paid $351,000 and it is estimated to be worth about $2.47m.
Mr Abbott snapped up a second home last year in mid-north coast town North Arm for $1.73m.
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MALCOLM TURNBULL
Turnbull’s Point Piper home is estimated to be worth about $150m.
Malcolm Turnbull continues to have by far the most valuable home of a former prime minister, a Tuscan-style mansion in Sydney Point Piper – the country’s most expensive suburb.
The waterfront property, the only in the area with direct access to Lady Martin’s beach, is estimated to be worth about $150m.
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It’s on a peninsula set among some of the world’s most expensive homes, including the multi-level, 24-bathroom home that “Aussie John” Symond currently has listed for $200m.
Mr Turnbull bought the home in 1994 for $5.45m, considered an astronomical price at the time, and later expanded the waterfront by snapping up part of the property next door.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull leaving his Point Piper Home. Picture: Stephen Cooper
Double Bay agent Brad Pillinger, who is tasked with selling Aussie John’s mansion, said Mr Turnbull’s waterfront home was likely worth more than $150m.
“It’s 2000sqm of land, beautifully done and the only house (in the vicinity) to have access to Lady Martin’s Beach and a full jetty and boathouse,” Mr Pillinger said.
It’s no surprise then that Turnbull was one of the few prime ministers to shun Kirribilli House and The Lodge, remaining in his private home during the duration of his three-year term.
KEVIN RUDD
Kevin Rudd is also among the 21st century prime ministers with one of the more pricey homes.
Rein bought the home in 2020.
The Sunshine Beach home was on the market in 2021 for $20m.
The Queensland based former prime minister and entrepreneur wife Therese Rein bought a seven-bedroom beach house in the Noosa area for $17m in 2020.
It is not known exactly what the house, once owned by tennis ace Pat Rafter, is worth but it was listed in 2021 for $20m and would likely have increased from that given the mammoth home price growth in the local area over recent years.
Mr Rudd and Ms Rein were no strangers to the Sunshine Coast property market prior to the purchase, having previously snapped up a $3.1m property near Castaways Beach.
JOHN HOWARD
Former Prime Minister John Howard’s Wollstonecraft home pictured in 2007. Picture: Graham Crouch
Mr Rudd’s opponent in the 2007 election former Prime Minister John Howard lives in the Wollstonecraft home he bought for $54,000 in 1974. Comparable sales suggest it’s worth about $4.5m-$6m.
Mr Howard used the stately Federation-era home to help his son get a foothold in the Sydney property market back in 2006, borrowing against his home to go guarantor for an inner city home.
PAUL KEATING
The Potts Point home could be worth $20m+.
Labor heavyweight Paul Keating, prime minister from 1991-1996, lives in a Potts Point terrace he bought in 1999 for $1.7m.
Richardson and Wrench’s Jason Boon, a prolific selling agent in the area, said the property located close to the water would be worth about $20m-plus.
He said the four-level terrace had undergone “one of the best renovations in Potts Point”, an area that has gentrified markedly since the time when Mr Keating bought the home.
BOB HAWKE
The residence of former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke in Northbridge, Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello
Bob Hawke (R) and wife Blanche d’Alpuget on the golf putting green he had installed on top of his home. Picture: Dennis Rutzou Public Relations
The late Bob Hawke famously lived in a multi-level mansion in north shore suburb Northbridge with writer wife Blanche d’Alpuget. He bought it for $1.23m in 1991 and it was sold shortly after his death in 2019 for $9.2m.
JULIA GILLARD
Australia’s first female prime minister Julia Gillard bought a four-bedroom beachside bungalow in Adelaide with then partner Tim Mathieson shortly after leaving office in 2013.
The purchase price was $1.85m.
The Brighton home.
An automated valuation of the property by CoreLogic, based on recent comparable sales, indicated the property was currently worth about $2.1m-$3.22m, with $2.65m pegged as the most likely value.
CoreLogic indicated this was a “low confidence” valuation given fewer comparable sales in the area over recent months.
Ms Gillard confirmed in 2022 that she and Mr Mathieson had broken up the year before. She was reported to be splitting her time between the UK and Adelaide while he was spending much of his time in regional Victoria.
Records show Ms Gillard’s beach home has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, ocean views and an “award-winning” solar and gas-heated pool.
Gillard had previously owned a more modest property in Melbourne suburb Altona.
Shortly after buying the property, Ms Gillard sold her previous residence in Melbourne suburb Altona. She had purchased the modest three-bedroom Altona house in 1998 for $140,000 and sold it for $913,000.
ANTHONY ALBANESE
Prior to buying his Central Coast property, the jewel in the Prime Minister’s property portfolio was a Marrickville house estimated to be worth over $2.6m.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outside his then Marrickville home in 2021. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone
The three-bedroom house with a pool, on the same street as both his first home and a later Marrickville investment property, was snapped up by Mr Albanese in 2006 for $997,500. It was his home for some time but has been rented out since 2022.
– with additional reporting by STEPHEN NICHOLLS
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