A Liberal senator and former accountant advertised a rental property she couldn’t sell for just $80 per week while struggling with almost $10,000 in unpaid council bills.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal new details of the financial disaster that landed Lucy Gichuhi and her husband William in court seven times for failing to pay council rates and water bills.
The Kenyan-born couple own six Australian properties, snapping up three rundown houses in the South Australian steelworks city of Whyalla northwest of Adelaide in 2005 for $50,750, $64,000 and $65,000.
Liberal senator Lucy Gichuhi (pictured with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull) who styles herself as a champion of financial literary advertised a rental property for $80 a week
Daily Mail Australia can reveal new details of the financial disaster that led Lucy Gichuhi and her husband William (pictured on their wedding day) to face court seven times for failing to pay water bills and council rates
Lucy Gichuhi and her husband bought three rundown houses in the South Australian steelworks city of Whyalla for just $50,750, $64,000 and $65,000 in 2005, six years after they moved to Australia from Kenya
Property records revealed two of the small homes were put up for sale over a three year period, but the homes were withdrawn from the market after failing to sell. One of the homes did not sell despite being listed on a staggering four occasions.
In another sign of possible financial difficulty, four years ago, the couple advertised one of their homes with an asking price of $180 per week in rent. But by 2018 that had been slashed to just $80 per week.
Daily Mail Australia this week revealed Mr and Mrs Gichuhi faced legal action from the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council, Whyalla City Council and the South Australian Water Corporation in 2013, 2014 and 2017, when she was a member of Parliament.
Local court magistrates ordered Senator Gichuhi – who recently complained her taxpayer-funded $203,000 salary is ‘not a lot of money’ – and her husband to pay $9,731 in unpaid bills by local court magistrates.
This included $8,359 in council rates and another $1,372 in water bills.
‘These are personal financial matters,’ her chief-of-staff Mark Mudri said.
‘The Senator pays all of her debts, did not contest any of these matters and is honouring any associated payment plans.’
Lucy Gichuhi and her husband William bought three rundown houses in the South Australian steelworks city of Whyalla for just $50,750 (pictured), $64,000 and $65,000 in 2005, six years after they moved to Australia from Kenya
Photos show one particular three-bedroom house on Bevan Crescent, which Senator Gichuhi bought for $50,750 in June 2005, was run down.
The senator listed this investment property for sale at $165,000 in January 2012 but withdrew it from the market after 127 days in May 2012.
The Gichuhis tried again in October 2012, putting it up for sale for a reduced price of $150,000.
But it was withdrawn from the market again in 2015 after three years, or 976 days on sale.
This particular three-bedroom house is so rundown there is barely much grass in the front or the back yards. The senator listed this investment property twice in 2012 for $150,000 and $165,000 but it was withdrawn from sale
Senator Gichuhi also struggled to sell another Whyalla house on Gordon Street for $150,000, after buying it for $64,000 in September 2005.
It failed to sell at auction in June 2012 after 10 months on the market.
The three-bedroom house was listed again in October 2012 for $150,000 but was withdrawn in July 2015 after it failed to sell.
Senator Gichuhi also struggled to sell another Whyalla house on Gordon Street for $150,000, after buying it for $64,000 in September 2005
The Gichuhis bought their third Whyalla house on Sugg Street for $65,000 in August 2005 and were renting it out for just $110 a week only last month. They had let it for $180 in February 2015.
The house was listed for sale in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2014, with asking prices of $120,000, $165,000, $175,000, and $150,000, but it failed to sell.
Whyalla City Council took Senator Gichuhi to court in September 2017, just four months after she was sworn as a senator for South Australia, for failing to pay $1,818 in rates in the town where she has three investment properties.
One outstanding bill of $2,895 from the Adelaide council went to court on April 10, 2017, just three weeks before she was sworn in as a senator.
All of Senator Gichuhi’s five investment properties were declared on her parliamentary register of pecuniary interests.
She and her husband also own a home and two plots of land in Kenya.
‘Whilst I am not aware of any other interest in real estate, I have arranged for searches to be done in Kenya to ensure this is the case,’ she said.
Before taking their Whyalla properties to market, in October 2009 the Gichuhis paid $282,000 for a three-bedroom house at Carona Avenue in Gilles Plains, which they listed for rent at $270 a week.
They had bought another three-bedroom house at Ridgefield Avenue in Dernancourt, in Adelaide’s north, for $164,000 in 2002 but did not appear to list this one for rent.
The four-bedroom home they live in now at Mawson Lakes was bought for $505,000 in 2012, the same year they had tried to unsuccessfully sell three Whyalla houses.
The Gichuhis bought a Whyalla house on Sugg Street for $65,000 in August 2005 and were renting it out for just $110 a week just last month, after letting it out for $180 in February 2015
In October 2009 the Gichuhis paid $282,000 for a three-bedroom house at Carona Avenue in Gilles Plains, which they listed for rent at $270 a week
The four-bedroom home they live in now at Mawson Lakes was bought for $505,000 in 2012, the same year they had tried to unsuccessfully sell three Whyalla houses
Court documents obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia show the Kenyan-born federal MP faced legal action from City of Port Adelaide Enfield council and the SA Water Corporation
The Kenyan-born backbencher, who owns six houses in South Australia with her husband William, had failed to pay $8,359 worth council rates and $1,372 in water bills
Embattled Liberal senator Lucy Gichuhi was taken to court seven times for failing to pay $8,359 worth of council rates and $1,372 in water bills
In her maiden speech to the Senate last year, Mrs Gichuhi admitted she struggled to resist the lure of mortgages.
‘We were not able to resist the offers of multiple loans – a home loan, personal loans, car loans and credit cards,’ she said.
The senator’s eye for detail is already under scrutiny after she charged taxpayers $2,000 to fly family members to her ’50th birthday plus GST’ party.
Senator Gichuhi’s Adelaide office, after two days, has still declined to explain why she claimed $7,675 in ‘electorate business’ to visit Sydney in August, September and November
In October last year, Senator Gichuhi claimed $2,139 on the public purse for two return airfares from Darwin to Adelaide to celebrate a milestone that occurred in September 2012.
She has, however, agreed to repay taxpayers with a 25 per cent penalty added.
Australia’s first African federal MP came under fire this week for telling Kenyan television her $200,000 salary ‘in a whole year’ was ‘not a lot of money’.
Senator Gichuhi’s office has still declined to explain to Daily Mail Australia why she claimed $7,675 in ‘electorate business’ to visit Sydney in August, September and November 2017 despite her being based in Adelaide.
Senator Lucy Gichuhi (pictured right) billed taxpayers to fly two family members to Adelaide for her ’50th birthday plus GST’
The revelations came to light as she faced a Liberal pre-selection challenge from the party’s right faction for her coveted and winnable No. 3 spot on the party’s Senate ticket at next year’s federal election.
Taxpayer-funded entitlement claims, published by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, show Senator Gichuhi claimed $2,000 in travel allowance from taxpayers between August 17 and 22, 2017 to visit Sydney.
She claimed $400 a day from taxpayers during that period and another $405 in travel allowance for visiting Sydney for ‘electorate business’ on September 11.
In another set of controversial expenses claims, she billed taxpayers $2,769 to travel to Sydney on November 2.
This ‘electorate business’ involved addressing an event with Christian radio station, Hope 103.2, emceed by former state Liberal MP Stephen O’Doherty.
She joined the Liberal Party in February this year, six months after meeting former Liberal prime minister John Howard during her taxpayer-funded trip to Sydney
Three weeks later, on November 25, she travelled to Sydney on ‘electorate business’ to be a ‘VIP Guest Speaker’ at the African Professionals Australia Gala at Parramatta in the city’s west.
The Christian conservative politician billed taxpayers $2,501 for travel allowance, car hire and travel for her husband.
Senator Gichuhi, who received just 152 primary votes at the 2016 election on the Family First ticket, in May last year replaced Bob Day in parliament after his bankruptcy made him ineligible to be an MP.
The former independent senator joined the Liberal Party in February this year, six months after meeting former Liberal prime minister John Howard during her taxpayer-funded trip to Sydney in August.