Former Australian Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd has put his five-bedroom house in Canberra up for
sale with an asking price of A$2.25 million ($2.18 million)
after abandoning any aspirations to again lead the country.
The 465-square-meter (5,005-square-foot) house in the
suburb of Yarralumla, a five-minute drive from Australia’s
Parliament House, was listed for sale on May 29, said Shane
Killalea, an agent at broker Peter Blackshaw Canberra, who is
marketing the property. Rudd and his wife Therese bought the
house in 2010. They moved out at the end of 2011 after their son
Marcus completed his schooling in Canberra, Rudd’s office said
in an e-mailed statement.
Rudd, 55, became prime minister when the Labor party won
power in the November 2007 election. The former diplomat, who
represents the seat of Griffith in Brisbane where he lives, was
ousted in a late-night coup that installed current Prime
Minister Julia Gillard in June 2010.
Rudd failed to win back power in a February 2012 challenge
and resigned his position as foreign minister to serve on
Labor’s backbench. He declined to challenge Gillard when she
opened up her leadership to a ballot in March, later saying
there were “no circumstances” under which he would lead the
party again. He said then he would seek re-election to his
current seat.
“Mr. Rudd has said on many occasions he will contest the
next election and serve a full term,” according to today’s
statement. “The current tenants have indicated they would like
to purchase another house and therefore it is an appropriate
time to put the house on the market.”
Swimming Pool
The average home price in Canberra rose 2.7 percent to
A$495,000 in April from a year earlier, according to Brisbane-based researcher RP Data. The median price of detached homes in
Yarralumla is A$1 million, according to the allhomes.com.au
website.
Rudd bought the property in September 2010 for A$2.175
million, according to the allhomes.com.au website. The house,
which has four bathrooms, double ovens in the kitchen and an
outdoor entertainment area and swimming pool, will be open for
inspection on June 1 and June 5, according to the listing on the
realestate.com.au website. The tenants are expected to move out
in four weeks, Killalea said by telephone today.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from local and interstate
buyers and also from overseas buyers,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Nichola Saminather in Sydney at
nsaminather1@bloomberg.net;
Jason Scott in Canberra at
jscott14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Edward Johnson at
ejohnson28@bloomberg.net
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Kevin Rudd, Australia’s former prime minister, bought the property in September 2010 for A$2.175 million, according to the allhomes.com.au website.
Kevin Rudd, Australia’s former prime minister, bought the property in September 2010 for A$2.175 million, according to the allhomes.com.au website. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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