CANBERRA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Australia's deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has said there is one sure-fire way to solve the housing affordability crisis plaguing the nation's major cities: move to regional areas.
On Wednesday, Joyce, who lives in the rural town of Tamworth in New South Wales, said the easy way to avoid paying the sometimes-crippling rent found in major cities was to "head bush" and live in smaller towns.
Talking in response to a Demographica report which showed Melbourne and Sydney were among the world's least affordable cities, with Sydney ranked second and Melbourne fifth, Joyce said Australians shouldn't feel anchored living in the nation's major centers.
"Sydney's wonderful and so is Melbourne. The trouble is so many people think it's wonderful that the price of houses is incredibly expensive. But there are other parts of Australia," Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.
"Houses will always be incredibly expensive if you can see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Just accept that.
"Houses are much cheaper in Tamworth, houses are much cheaper in Armidale, houses are much cheaper in Toowoomba.
"I did move out west so I can say this, if you've decide you've got the gumption in you and you want to move, you're going to have a very affordable house."
Joyce's comments came after it was revealed that Australia's Treasurer, Scott Morrison had flown to London to meet with British MPs and learn about how they dealt with their nation's housing affordability crisis.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also flagged the issue as a priority for his government in 2017. He named MP Michael Sukkar as Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, with housing affordability to become his main focus in the role.
