The lavish Canberra home Tony Abbott never moved into has cost the government nearly $120,000.
The full cost of the ill-fated lease – including termination fees and legal advice – was confirmed at a budget estimates committee hearing on Tuesday.
Abbott won the election and declined to live in the $3,000 a week rental property. He instead opted to stay at the Australian Federal Police college when in Canberra – a decision portrayed at the time as a cost-saving measure.
The deputy secretary of the department, Elizabeth Kelly, detailed the costs of the unoccupied home at the hearing.
They included $39,107 for rent, $65,000 for a commercial settlement to terminate the lease in November, $1,403 for a property broker to find the home in the first place and later to look for an alternative tenant, and $14,144 in legal advice on the drafting and ending of the lease.
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