Sam Armytage left Sunrise viewers aghast on Thursday morning when she claimed people earning a salary of $180,000 weren’t necessarily wealthy.
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The 44-year-old breakfast host, rumoured to make an estimated $500,000 per year, made the claim during a debate about whether people in high-income thresholds should receive tax cuts.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who earns almost $550,000 per year, had earlier claimed that FIFO miners on $180,000 weren’t rich.
This was a stance Sam appeared to agree with as she introduced a debate segment about the issue on Sunrise.
“I guess it depends where you live in Australia as to whether or not you’re wealthy on $180,000,” Samantha said.
“In Sydney, probably not.”
It is likely many Australians would disagree with the highly paid TV personality, who as well as her large salary has also recently sold her Sydney home for $3.2million and her Southern Highlands cottage for $3.1 million.
In contrast, the average salary for Australians is under $90,000 while the medium is reportedly around $60,000 – just a fraction of the $180,000 salary that Sam believes doesn’t make someone “rich”.
Meanwhile, Australia’s current minimum wage is $19.84 an hour or $753.80 a week.
Australian workers lucky enough to be earning $180,000 or more are estimated to find themselves in the top four percent of income brackets.
Enraged fans took to social media to slam Samantha and PM Morrison’s comments, with one Twitter user describing the Sunrise host as “out of touch”.
In June this year, Samantha announced her engagement to equestrian businessman Richard Lavender.
Appearing on Sunrise for the first time after the news broke, Sam shared all the details of the proposal live on-air.
The journalist explained the proposal was a very thoughtful albeit understated affair on her Southern Highlands property in NSW.
“We just had a little bonfire on the weekend in the paddock, it was all very low-key. Like Rich and I, very low-key,” she said.
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