A public housing tenant who lives where Anthony Albanese once called home, has lashed out at the Prime Minister to refocus his attention on his roots.
Anya Yakubova, 27, and her mother Rosa are so proud to live in the same housing commission unit in inner-city Camperdown where the PM was raised by his mum, that they have a framed photo of him in the front room.
But she was disappointed to learn this week that her ‘houso hero’ has added a lavish $4.3million clifftop mansion on the NSW Central Coast to his property portfolio while failing to deliver on his promise to better social housing.
Ms Yakubova has seen many people in similar situations to her face homelessness, including her brother, who currently lives on the street, which made the the timing of the property purchase more ‘hard to hear’.
She also believes it’s ‘inappropriate’ with a federal election looming.
‘(Albanese) needs to help the homeless and helpless people more rather than buying a beautiful home,’ Ms Yakubova told Seven News.
‘I want to see him do more for people who are living in housing commission.
‘The cost of living is coming up so high, it’s almost impossible for any families to live in Sydney right now.
‘I think it’s pretty unfair that the cost of living has gone up so high and it’s so hard for anyone to live … and he’s buying a multimillion-dollar property before the election.’
Despite joining the barrage of backlash against Mr Albanese, she’s proud to live in his childhood home.
It’s the first time television cameras had been inside the unit.
‘It makes me feel like I can do anything, I can achieve anything,’ Ms Yakubova said.
‘I feel like some type of, I don’t know, aura about this house that makes me want to do better. Do more.
‘It does feel like someone famous was living here. It’s iconic.’
She added she doesn’t begrudge Mr Albanese on his impressive property portfolio.
‘Good on him for striving to get what he wants,’ he said.
‘But I don’t think it’s appropriate at this time. It’s kind of disappointing.’
Mr Albanese would not comment on his controversial purchase onWednesday.
‘What I’m focused on is delivering more houses for ns,’ he told reporters/
Mr Albanese’s new clifftop home in Copacabana is on a 790sqm block of land and a short walk from the beach.
Mr Albanese will share his home with his fiancee Jodie Haydon, whose family also live in the area, 2GB’s Ben Fordham reported.
‘I’m about to get married to Jodie and start a new chapter of our lives,’ the PM told Fordham.
‘Jodie’s a Coastie and spending time with her up there is awesome. It will be nice to be closer to her parents and her family one day.’
The house also boasts a double garage and cathedral-style ceilings.
After growing up in public housing, Mr Albanese now enjoys an impressive property portfolio.
The PM recently listed his three-bedroom townhouse in Dulwich Hill with a $1.9million guide.
The home was scheduled to go under the hammer on October 12 after it was purchased by the PM for $1.175million in 2015.
Mr Albanese had evicted his long-term tenant from the property in order to put it on the market.
But The Agency Inner West real estate agent Shad Hassan revealed this week that with no ‘firm commitment’ from an interested buyer, they decided to put an asking price on the home instead.
‘Albo and I decided that it’s best not to waste time, it’s definitely worth the money and we’ll be having people come take a look at it over the weekend if we put an asking price on it,’ he told realestate.com.
Mr Albanese also owns a mortgage-free federation bungalow in Marrickville, while he lives for free between Kirribilli House and The Lodge in Canberra.
That Marrickville home earns him between $1,300 and $1,400 every week in rent.
He also earns $564,356 a year as prime minister.