Treasurer Joe Hockey is selling his $1.5 million farm – Domain News (subscription)

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The combined property portfolio of Mr Hockey and his wife, investment banker Melissa Babbage, includes four properties across three states – Queensland, NSW and the ACT.

Land title documents show the Malanda farm is jointly owned by the couple and was bought for a total of $625,000 in 2003.

The farm has an asking price of $1.55 million.

A renovated, two-bedroom, single-bathroom Queenslander sits on the property, which has established gardens and “attractive surrounds”.

“The land is mainly flat with some undulating hills,” says the listing on Domain.

“The block dairy has been converted to cattle yards with a vet crush and scales, all undercover and has a 5000L molasses tank.

“Numerous sheds and animal shelters … with a lockable chemical room.”

The property is part of Mr Hockey’s extensive real estate portfolio including a house in Sydney’s Hunters Hill, which was bought for over $3.5 million more than a decade ago.

Last year Hockey sold off a separate 41-hectare farm in Malanda for $600,000, which he had acquired in 2010 for $520,000.

The Hockey family have also turned over an additional $1.6 million in real estate since 2008, including a one-bedroom pad in Sydney’s trendy Glebe (bought for $310,000 in 1993) and a two-bedroom apartment in a high-rise tower in harbourside McMahons Point (bought for $560,000 several years earlier), also in Sydney.

Federal members’ pecuniary interests – in which politicians and their spouses disclose personal matters from assets including real estate, to company directorships and hospitality perks, like airline upgrades – reveals Mr Hockey has two properties to his name, including the advertised Malanda farm.

Ms Babbage has four properties in her name, according to the pecuniary interests list, including the Hunters Hill home and the Malanda farm.

Title records show Mr Hockey has an investment/residence in Forrest in Canberra, and the farming business/investment in Malanda.

The property spans 1410 square metres and, in September of 2010, a planning permit for a $96,000-plus extension or alteration was lodged with local council.

Ms Babbage also owns a six-bedroom house in the coastal village of Stanwell Park in Wollongong in NSW, which was purchased for $782,500 in 2002.

This week Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described Mr Hockey’s comments about first home buyers as insulting and, more than being a gaffe, indicated that the Treasurer was out of touch.

Mr Hockey sought to clarify his remarks.

“For a lot of people, a lot of Australians in Sydney and Melbourne, some other parts of Australia, housing is very expensive and I understand that,” he told ABC radio.

“I totally understand that. When you’re committing so much of your wage to your mortgage it’s a big ask, with all the other pressures in life.”

When asked about the listing in Malanda a spokesperson for Mr Hockey said it was a personal matter for him and his family.