Sunrise host Nat Barr remained silent after she was criticized for sharing her concerns that her adult children won’t be able to buy a home because of the housing crisis.
Barr made the comments while speaking on Wednesday’s Hot Topics segment with Housing Minister Clare O’Neil and Opposition finance spokesperson Jane Hume about Labour’s Help To Buy Bill, which will be reintroduced in Parliament.
The legislation would let 40,000 Australians buy a home with a 2 percent deposit.
To qualify for the scheme, buyers must earn less than $90,000 per year, or $120,000 per year for couples.
Barr said in Wednesday’s Hot Topics segment that she is concerned her two sons – aged 19 and 22 – will not be able to buy a home after Ms Hume claimed that “Australians have already rejected this policy across the country”.
“I’m in the fortunate position that I was able to buy mine when they were cheaper years ago, but I don’t know how my kids will buy one,” Barr said.
The 56-year-old has been hosting Sunrise since 2020, but she has never openly discussed her salary.
Sunrise host Nat Barr said on the program that she didn’t know how her children could afford to buy a house in today’s market
However, the Daily Mail previously reported that she probably earns more than $1 million a year.
Viewers were quick to condemn her comments on Facebook, claiming Barr would “set her children up.”
“She is the last person who should say she is rich and will abandon her children,” one person commented. ‘So many young people buy houses every day without the help of mum and dad. Nats (sic) is just stirring the pot.”
Some viewers called out the highly paid presenter, saying many were having a harder time with less income
Another claimed Barr “makes over $1 million a year.”
“You’re saying that in her 20 years at Sunrise, she hasn’t focused on buying bonds, stock trading accounts, managing ETF funds and more in her children’s names so they can use them when they getting older?’ another wrote.
“I understand she has the money to give her son a house. The point is that she can help him buy one, or she can give him a loan to get one,” said another.
“Then people will just complain that he’s a rich person’s child and gets whatever he wants, and the real world is lost to him, and so on. We don’t know her parenting style. She may feel like she worked for her money and he should too. The world is not a free ride.’
Barr did not comment on the criticism surrounding her remarks as she hosted Sunrise as usual on Thursday.
