Truth about Peter Dutton’s first home

“One of my proudest achievements was buying my first home at 19-years-old,” he told parliament during his 2022 Budget Reply.

“It was nothing flash at $90,000, but it was mine.”

In today’s dollars, Mr Dutton would have paid around $200,000 for the home, according to the RBA’s Inflation Calculator comparison with $90,000 in 1989 when he bought the home.

For those looking to buy a house in the Brisbane suburb of Boondall, where Mr Dutton was born, you’re looking a median price of $830,000 for a home and $490,000 for a unit according to Realestate.com.au.

The nearby suburb of Bald Hills, where Mr Dutton attended high school, has a median price of $727,500 for a house and $410,000 for a unit.

The comment drew ire from social media users, who argued that Mr Dutton had bought a home for a low price.

Mr Dutton did concede that young people today have it tough when saving for a home.

“Today, it’s much harder for young people to afford their first house – even with hard work, sacrifice and saving,” he said.

The Opposition Leader then recommitted the Coalition to a Morrison government policy of allowing first home buyers to put their super toward a house.

“Your super is your money, this government thinks it’s their money, something we’ve seen in this budget,” he argued.

“They want your super to invest in someone else’s home, not your own.”

Mr Dutton said that the same scheme would be offered to women “who separate later in life, women with very few housing options and are increasibly left homeless”.

Despite house prices falling amid rising interest rates, homes in Australia’s major city are still 21.3 per cent higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sydney’s average house price now sits at $1.46 million for houses, or $754,812 for a unit according to Domain.

The average price of a Melbourne home is now $1.03 million for a house or $561,21 for units.