Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has launched a strident defence of the wealth he’s accumulated through his property and share portfolio, saying he’s unapologetic about the fact that he’s been “successful in business”.
Mr Dutton blamed “dirt sheets” from the prime minister’s office for recent media reports raising questions about the bank shares he bought during the global financial crisis and detailing $30 million worth of property transactions he’s made over his career.
“I’ve only ever acted with integrity,” he told reporters, before explaining he bought his first property with his father when he left school.
“They’ve trawled through every transaction of my entire adult life and they’ve come up with the fact that we’ve bought and sold properties,” he said.
Peter Dutton told journalists he had “only ever acted with integrity”. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
“I’ve been proud of what my family and I have been able to achieve and I think the Australian people want somebody who knows how to make money, who knows how to manage the economy. I’ve demonstrated that as assistant treasurer.”
According to Nine newspapers, the opposition leader failed to declare that he had sold two properties under federal parliament’s disclosure rules more than two decades ago.
While Mr Dutton conceded some paperwork had not been submitted on time, he said “there’s nothing consequential in that”.
“If the prime minister has some claim to make, don’t get his lackies to push it out there, get up and make the claim yourself,” he said.
Labor accuses Dutton of hypocrisy
Asked today about Mr Dutton’s extensive property sales, the prime minister refused to comment and said it was a matter for Mr Dutton. He gave a similar response yesterday when asked by a reporter about Mr Dutton’s purchase of shares.
Earlier, his cabinet colleague Murray Watt fronted the media — armed with a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald — and accused Mr Dutton of hypocrisy given he’s opposed Labor’s housing policies.
“I think this story gives us an insight into why it is that Peter Dutton has consistently voted against cost of living relief for average Australians and why he’s now going to an election saying that if he’s elected, he will cut Labor’s $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund,” he told reporters.
Senator Watt also demanded answers from Mr Dutton about the separate report published by News Corp about bank shares the opposition leader bought during the global financial crisis.
Labor Senator Murray Watt accused Peter Dutton of hypocrisy. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
The story revealed the shares were bought just days before the Rudd government announced a multi-billion-dollar bailout of the banks — a policy Mr Dutton’s leader Malcolm Turnbull had been briefed on.
Mr Dutton described the story as “ancient history” and said, “there’s no information I’ve been privy to that influenced any decision about any share that I’ve bought”.
“A lot of astute investors would have bought bank shares at that time because they saw value in the shares and the balance sheets of Australian banks are very important to them,” he said
Mr Dutton said he now owns just one house — which has been declared — and has money in the bank. He added that his family trust contained “no assets” but refused to provide further details, including whether there’s any cash held in it.
The prime minister copped criticism last year when it was revealed he had purchased a $4.3 million clifftop property on the New South Wales Central Coast, where his partner Jodie Haydon’s family lives.
Mr Dutton insisted the prime minister’s assets are “off limits”.
“He tells a story of growing up in housing commission, and he’s now a multi-millionaire with property. Good luck to him”.
