Tony Abbott's secret $710,000 home loan

Story summary:

• Abbott fails to declare mortgage
• "Bloody big oversight"
• "Question of accountability"

 

Tony Abbott's salary was halved after the Liberals lost the 2008 election and he lost his ministerial post Source: The Daily Telegraph

 

LABOR has questioned whether Tony Abbott could manage the Australian economy after he failed to declare a $710,000 mortgage on his family home. 

The Opposition Leader took out the mortgage after losing his ministerial salary when the Howard government was ousted, to help cover living costs including private school fees for two of his three daughters, The Australian reports.

But he failed to declare it until about two weeks ago - almost two years after taking out the loan.

Small Business Minister Craig Emerson told 2UE radio this morning he thought the failure to declare was “probably a genuine oversight, but it's a bloody big oversight”.


“This is a question of accountability,” Dr Emerson said.

“Tony wants to be the prime minister of Australia, and I guess it does raise some questions about his capacity to run a trillion-dollar economy when he forgets that he's got a $700,000 mortgage to declare.”

Mr Abbott, who took out the loan against his family home in northern Sydney in April 2008, could be in breach of the parliamentary rules covering pecuniary interests.

“You're supposed to declare all of your financial interests, all your significant financial interests. There's no doubt about the rules - that you're supposed to declare mortgages and other loans, any other liabilities that you have. It's sitting right there on the form,” Dr Emerson said.

Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb defended his leader, saying it was a “simple mistake”, and accused Labor of muckraking.

“There's no reason why he wouldn't disclose it, unless he's overlooked it, really,” Mr Robb said.

“This Labor Party has resorted already to just grubby smear campaigns.”

After moving into Opposition after the Coalition lost the last election, Mr Abbott took a $90,000 pay cut on the $200,000-plus salary he earned as federal health minister.

“The advent of the Rudd Government has caused serious mortgage stress for a section of the Australian community, ie former Howard government ministers,” he joked to The Australian in January 2008.

“You don't just lose power, in inverted commas, you certainly lose income as well, and if you are reliant on your parliamentary salary for your daily living, obviously it makes a big difference.”

But this morning Dr Emerson said parliamentarians should consider ordinary Australians struggling to cover their own living costs.

“I'm just saying, if Tony Abbott thinks that parliamentarians are struggling to make ends meet, spare a thought for the average Australian, who's working very hard to try to cover the cost of housing, particularly in Sydney - childcare costs, electricity costs, a lot of these pressures,” he said.

Dr Emerson told The Australian Online he thought parliamentarians were paid enough and that the primary motivation for pursuing a political career was not financial advancement.

“My own view is that we don't we go into politics in search of very high salaries," he said.

“If you wanted to do that, seek out a career in the private sector. Given our motivation is not primarily money, I think the parliamentary salaries are reasonable and meet a community standard.”

 

news.com.au 23 June 2010

Another action where the criminal rulers are exempt from the law.