Labor Foreign Minister Penny Wong has purchased a grand 110-year-old home for $3.4million in one of Adelaide‘s most prestigious suburbs.
2GB host Ben Fordham shared news of her purchase on Friday morning, just two weeks after it was revealed Anthony Albanese has snapped up a $4.3 million clifftop property on NSW‘s Central Coast.
The PM’s move sparked a furious backlash, coming during a severe housing shortage, with rents soaring and high interest rates hurting many mortgage holders.
Now spectacular details have been revealed of senator Wong’s new 1,350sqm home in Adelaide’s ritzy Unley Park after she purchased it with her wife, Sophie Allouache.
It was described on its realestate.com.au listing as ‘an enchanting Gentleman’s Villa’, and boasts a grand entrance, swimming pool and formal dining room.
‘Guests are ushered into the home via a broad and stately corridor, the soaring 3.69m ceiling heights signalling the grandeur which is to follow throughout,’ the real estate listing said.
The home, on a lot surrounded by extensive gardens, also features a cellar room, large open-plan kitchen and a formal dining room.
‘Minister Wong and her wife have purchased a new family home,’ the senator’s office confirmed.
‘They are preparing to sell their current property and that of the minister’s mother, who passed away earlier this year.’
Penny Wong, married her long-time partner Sophie Allouache in her home state of South Australia in March
Penny Wong has purchased a grand property (pictured) in one of Adelaide’s most prestigious suburbs
Ms Wong, 55, has been in a relationship with Ms Allouache, a public servant, since 2006, and the happy couple married in March.
Ms Allouache, a former University of Adelaide Students’ Association president, is seven years younger than her wife.
She works as a manager for South Australia‘s Health & Department of Human Services and has expertise in early childhood health and mental health issues, including eating disorders.
In December 2011, she gave birth to the couple’s first child Alexandra who was conceived through IVF.
Ms Allouache gave birth to the couple’s second daughter Hannah in 2015.
Their wedding celebrations featured a traditional lion dance, honouring Ms Wong’s Malaysian-Chinese heritage.
Ms Wong was born in Malaysia, where she spent the first eight years of her life.
The home also features a cellar room, large open plan kitchen and a formal dining room (pictured)
Francis Wong, her Malaysian father, met her Australian mother, Jane Chapman, while studying architecture at Adelaide University.
The senator and Ms Allouache famously like to keep their lives private.
Ms Wong condemned the toxic debate surrounding the 2017 plebiscite on whether Australia should allow same-sex unions – held under Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull – as an ‘expensive stunt’.
But when Australians voted overwhelmingly to support gay marriage, Ms Wong burst into tears of joy on live TV.
‘I hope that everyone in this parliament has heard the resounding voice of the Australian people today, a mandate for change, a mandate for equality,’ she said.
‘Because it is time. Thank you for standing up for fairness, thank you for standing up for equality. Thank you for standing up for our families.’
