A Housing Minister’s embarrassing blunder that a “reasonable price” for a Sydney apartment would be just “a few hundred dollars” appears to rule out any rental apartment in the city, but leaves open options for a long commute.
NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson took to TikTok on Thursday and claimed she “garbled” her response to ABC Radio’s Hamish Macdonald on Wednesday when he asked her what “a reasonable rent” was in Sydney.
After the minister responded with “a few hundred dollars,” Macdonald pressed her that in Sydney, where the average rent is $720, you could find somewhere for as little as $200.
“There are places in Sydney where you can do that,” Ms Jackson insisted.
A search on realestate.com turned up no apartments in greater Sydney for less than $200, although there was a room available for that price in a 12-bedroom share house at Merrylands in the city’s west, for ‘men only’ .
However, a ‘neat and tidy unit with built-in wardrobes, a large lounge/living area and two spacious bedrooms’ is available for just $180 per week for those willing to commute six hours each way to and from work every day .
Located in Merriwa, 270km northwest of Sydney, it is one of four two-bedroom apartments in NSW available for $200 per week or less.
The other available properties are in the Northern Highlands of NSW at Glen Innes and Moree, 577km and 633km from Sydney respectively.
The closest ‘reasonably’ priced unit, i.e. for $200 or less, to Sydney is this two-bedroom inn, Merriwa.
The NSW town of Merriwa is located 270km northwest of Sydney, about a three-hour drive
Wednesday’s interview earned Ms Jackson much ridicule online, with one social media user asking: ‘Out of touch? Incompetent? Both?’
Ms Jackson claimed on Thursday she was talking about what could hypothetically be reasonable, rather than what “people in Sydney actually pay”.
“Did I say rent in Sydney is $200 a week? No,’ she said.
The minister insisted she was well aware that Sydney tenants were “very expensive” but radio interviews were a “hard format” where she sometimes “garbled” her answers.
“Sometimes your words get a little garbled, you’re only human,” she said.
“I can be a pretty intense person whose words don’t always come out nice and in sync,” she said.
“I know rent in Sydney is hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
“That’s why I talk about the housing crisis all the time; I wouldn’t do that if I thought the rent was affordable.
‘I try to recognize how difficult it is for people.’
Ms. Jackson confessed that she has “got a little garbled” in the past, such as when she went on live television and confused the Pavlovian response with Pavlova.
She also reminded viewers that Thursday is World Kindness Day.
“It’s important that we all be a little kind to each other, that we recognize each other’s flaws and nonsense, jumbled words and mistakes,” she said.
NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson used video sharing platform TikTok to defuse her blunder that $200 is the reasonable price to rent a flat in Sydney
During her interview with Macdonald, Ms Jackson defended her “a few hundred dollars” comment by pointing out there was “a lot of variation” in the Sydney housing market.
“A luxury two-bedroom penthouse in the eastern suburbs is quite different from a neat and tidy two-bedroom flat next to a train station in Western Sydney,” she said.
“They’re both good houses.”
She also responded abruptly to a question about the federal Labor government’s record immigration numbers during the housing crisis.
“I don’t think it’s fair or accurate to categorize immigration as the source of the housing crisis,” she told Macdonald.
“We have always supported a sensible conversation about immigration, but ultimately our job is to provide supply and one of the challenges to supply is skilled labor.”
Macdonald interjected with a blunt reality check: ‘But population growth does affect housing supply, they are not separate.
“States must plan infrastructure, roads and services to accommodate more people. That’s just a fact, isn’t it.’
Ms Jackson replied: ‘That’s why we want to have a sensible conversation about it, but I don’t think it’s sensible to say that if we stop immigration into this country the pressure on our housing market will go away.’
Ms Jackson was quickly criticized for the interview on social media, with many calling her incompetent and doubting her ability to do the job.
“It is deeply concerning that this person is responsible for addressing the housing/rental crisis,” one person said. ‘Unreachable? Incompetent? Both?’
Another added: “The minister must resign immediately and it is also deeply insulting to all people in Sydney looking for housing.”
A third said: “If you’re a Labor or Liberal Housing Minister, being completely wrong about rents only reinforces how out of touch the political class is,” one person wrote.
“It’s sad when politicians are just out of touch with reality for normal people, made a little extra sad because Rose Jackson is supposed to be one of those who ‘gets it’ on housing and planning,” said another .