The Australian has revealed that Mr Feeney’s wife, Liberty Sanger, a lawyer at prominent legal firm Maurice Blackman, owns a unit in a swish Canberra development which the newspaper has estimated to be worth more than $1 million.
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A once safe Labor seat, the Greens have Batman in their sights.
On Tuesday, it emerged that the MP had failed to declare a .3 million investment property he owns in his electorate.
Feeney lives in a $2.9 million apartment in the adjacent Greens-held seat of Melbourne.
“From time to time politicians might get gifts that they fail to declare.but Australia lost a premier [Barry O’Farrell] over a bottle of wine, what happens to someone who doesn’t declare a $2.3 million property?”
‘Mr Feeney has questions to answer and so does Bill Shorten’.
‘There is no suggestion here that there is any conflict of interest, there is no suggestion that I’ve made any gain through this omission’.
Mr Feeney has been staying at the property owned through Ms Sanger’s family trust and claiming the parliamentary travel allowance of $270 a night.
MPs are required to update their register of interests within 28 days and can be found in contempt of parliament and referred to the house privileges committee for investigation.
Mr Feeney is on the record saying negative gearing is a “scheme for rich investors that reduces housing affordability”.
“Labor’s policy will not only drive down the value of existing properties and push up the cost of rents, it will stop families from leveraging their home and their existing income into investing in income producing or appreciating assets like a small business, shares, a commercial property or indeed an existing residential investment property”.
NewsCorp is reporting that Mr Feeney negatively gears the home, although the MP has not confirmed that. He said he was going to live in the house after renovating it, but now has tenants in there.
Mr Feeney has confirmed the Northcote property, as well as another in Seddon, are negatively geared.
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The four-bedroom Northcote property is described as having “spectacular city views” and “period charm” on a “grand scale”, sitting on “a colossal 900m2 allotment”.
