Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has a solution for Sydneysiders who can't afford to buy a home: get out of Sydney.
Declaring himself fed up with the focus on Sydney and Melbourne in the housing affordability debate, Mr Joyce suggested homebuyers give up on water views and relocate to the regions, where property is cheaper.
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Gladys slaps down Barnaby Joyce
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian rejects Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce's suggestion that Sydney homebuyers must look outside the city where property is cheaper.
"I get annoyed when people talk about that the only house that you can buy apparently is in Sydney and it's too dear," he told ABC Radio National. "There are other parts of Australia. I live in one, it's called Tamworth."
Mr Joyce was responding to yet another report showing homes in Australia's two biggest cities are among the world's least affordable. The Demographia survey released on Tuesday found Sydney was the second most expensive city in the world for housing, behind only Hong Kong, while Melbourne ranked fifth - more expensive than London and San Francisco.
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"Houses will always be incredibly expensive if you can see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Just accept that," Mr Joyce said. "Houses are much cheaper in Tamworth, houses are much cheaper in Armidale, houses are much cheaper in Toowoomba.
"Sydney's wonderful and so is Melbourne. The trouble is so many people think it's wonderful that the price of houses is incredibly expensive. But there are other parts of Australia.
"I did move out west so I can say this - if you've decided you've got the gumption in you and you want to move [west], you're going to have a very affordable house. If you say 'I want a really affordable house in Mosman,' well, don't we all."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to prioritise housing affordability in 2017 and has handed responsibility of the issue to young frontbench newcomer Michael Sukkar, who is from Melbourne.Â
And Treasurer Scott Morrison has flown to London to learn more about how the British government has responded to the housing affordability crisis in that country.
Asked whether the Turnbull government needed to do more on housing affordability, or perhaps reconsider tax incentives such as negative gearing, Mr Joyce said the government was doing "other things" such as promoting agriculture and decentralising the public service to regional areas such as Armidale.
"We do other things and when we suggest them, people mainly in the Labor Party, fight tooth and claw to try and stop us," he told ABC radio.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, sworn in to the job on Monday, has also named housing affordability as a top priority. Speaking to Radio National on Wednesday, she said the situation was not as simple as Mr Joyce made it appear.
"A good society gives people choices," she said, arguing that if someone worked in Sydney, they should be able to buy a house there.
But Ms Berejiklian said she did not believe the situation was yet a "crisis", and also rejected tinkering with negative gearing, saying:Â "I don't feel at this stage that that is something I would necessarily touch."
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said Mr Joyce's comments showed how out of touch the Turnbull government is with Australians.
"Country life is a good life. It suits many people... It is not an option for everyone. It shouldn't be this government's only answer when it comes to housing affordability," he said.
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