Sizing Up Federal MPs Part 2 – Investment Properties and Skills

Another important aspect of Australian MPs income can also have an untoward influence of their decision-making. Investment properties: of course they are legal, but MPs have a relationship with these controversial assets.

Four years ago the Sydney Morning Herald published an exhaustive study into MPs’ investment properties (www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/houses-of-parliament-politicians-own-an-estimated-370m-of-property-20170420-gvp2g5.html). At the time, Australia's 227 federal politicians had hundreds of millions tied up in the property market.

I am including information from the SMH article, since I have only had one response to questions I put to 10 MPs with the largest numbers of investment properties. Most MPs don't like talking about their property portfolios. When the SMH sent out questions about MP’s property holdings, the Chief Government Whip sent all Coalition MPs an email instructing them not to respond.

At the time the SMH reported on “a conservative estimate based on the assumption that each of their 561 declared properties is worth the average Australian dwelling price of then $656,800”. The largest property portfolios are owned by Coalition MPs, accounting for 14 portfolios of the top 18MPs and nine of the top 10. Retired National, Senator Barry O'Sullivan, then owned 33 properties while current NSW Nationals MP, Dr David Gillespie, owns 18. Local MP, Llew O’Brien, reports he only owns one second home – his former Sydney family home.

The same article noted that in both absolute and proportionate terms, Coalition politicians largely oppose any crackdown on negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. The Coalition's 105 MPs and their spouses own 315 of the declared properties - 56 per cent of the total number. Labor MPs declare 198 properties and minor party and independent MPs declare 48.

The SMH article noted “Then there are those properties we don't know about: concealed through companies, trusts and self-managed super funds. Or kept out of the public gaze through the clever use of parliamentary rules. So let's say the true figure of the total value is somewhere between $370 million and $500 million. Nearly two-thirds of MPs - 144 of them - own more than one property, a rate more than three times the national average. That's 64 per cent of MPs, compared to less than 20 per cent of Australians.”

So, while earning from different income streams, what skills do MPs bring to Parliament?

A vital practical skill would be the engineering - these decisions cost taxpayers from millions to billions of dollars. Currently there are only two federal MPs qualified as engineers, both women: the LNP’s Karen Andrews and the Green’s Mehreen Faruqi.

Mehreen Faruqi believes “Parliament is grossly unrepresentative of the wider community - with a lack of MPs with real-world experience and technical expertise. Sadly, parliament is stacked with career politicians who make decisions with no regard to evidence and which end up harming and costing all of us. They are decisions that suit only vested interests and bankrupt neo-liberal ideologies.”

And congratulations to local Federal MP, Llew O’Brien, who recently used the very old fashioned skill of integrity to gain a political win. Although previously the government resisted moves for a Royal Commission into Veteran Suicides, preferring to establish a permanent national commissioner for veteran suicides. But Tasmanian Independent Senator, Jackie Lambie, organised a Senate motion for a Royal Commission which passed in the Senate. Llew had notified Prime Minister Morrison “that I had formed a view and changed my position to support this motion” in the upcoming House of Representatives debate. And if the government didn't support this legislation in the Parliament he would cross the floor and vote with Labor and the Crossbenches. Later Llew met with the PM to discuss the upcoming vote, and shortly after, with Coalition support, the motion was passed unanimously.

Corrections: Last month article I reported our MP Lew O’Brien, receives an annual salary of $331,975, excluding super and unreported entitlements. When Llew become Deputy Speaker he forfeited chairing two Committee. This cut his salary by 2%. Like all MPs, he receives an Electorate Allowance of $32,000pa tax free, paid monthly. So his annual take home pay is now $317,975, excluding super and other unreported entitlements, or $6,105per week. Also, MPs previously could claim a first class round-the-world study tour. Plus they automatically benefited from an old superannuation retirement scheme. Both of these are closed to new members, and removed before Llew entered Parliament.  

James Beatson

.