A Liberal party candidate who pitched herself as a renter has admitted she owns two properties.
Amelia Hamer, who is vying for the seat of Kooyong in Victoria, said she owns an apartment in Canberra and a flat in London after describing herself as a “renter” multiple times, The Age reported.
Hamer, 31, said she was a “renter” in an interview on the Today Show in June and was labelled a “renter wanting to get into the housing market” in an Australian Financial Review profile last year.
“While working in London and Canberra, I took out mortgages to buy the apartments that I lived in,” Hamer told the Sydney Morning Herald in a statement.
“Now that I’m back living in Melbourne, I am renting in Hawthorn.”
A spokesperson for Hamer told the Sydney Morning Herald she is currently renting out her apartment in Canberra.
Hamer’s London property, now worth around $1.46 million, was also listed for rent online for around $3000 per month in 2020, the masthead reports.
Hamer did not confirm if the London apartment was currently tenanted.
Hamer’s website states she is seeking to represent Kooyong to “ease the cost of living, advocate for local business and help more locals to achieve the dream of home ownership.”
Independent MP Dr Monique Ryan, who is the incumbent after winning the Kooyong seat in the 2022 election, claimed her political rival Hamer had “deceived” the electorate.
“It’s disappointing that Ms Hamer tried to deceive the people of Kooyong,” Ryan told 9news.com.au in a statement.
“The issue here isn’t that she owns two properties; it’s that by painting herself as a millennial renter she misled people by not disclosing she was also a property owner and landlord.”
9news.com.au has contacted Hamer’s office for comment.