Photo of Coles receipt spectacularly backfires for senator after he moaned about cost-of-living crisis

An Australian senator has been blasted on social media for complaining about the cost of his shopping while sitting in his luxury car.

Ralph ‘Deej’ Babet, who was elected to the Victorian Senate in 2022, shared the photo of a receipt for 15 items bought at Coles to social media site X on Saturday.

The items included diced salmon, mangoes, blackberries, broccolini and expensive free range eggs.

Mr Babet snapped the photo with the receipt resting against the Mercedes-Benz logo inside his C-Class coupe – valued at around $100,000.

Australian Senator Ralph Babet has been flayed on social media for complaining about the cost of his shopping while sitting in his expensive car. Pictured: Mr Babet with One Nation member Sarah Game 

Senator Babet suggested his life is hard under the Albanese government and posted an image of his Coles receipt (pictured above) to social media as proof. His followers didn’t react well.

‘I just went and picked up a few things from the shops. I filled up just one bag,’ he wrote.

‘They weren’t kidding when they said it won’t be easy under Albanese. Granted Labor can’t take all the blame. The Liberals were almost as bad.’

But the post by the first term senator, who collects a parliamentary salary of over $225,750 a year and also owns a real estate firm in Melbourne’s south-east, did not go down well.

Even a follower who shared some common political beliefs with senator Babet warned his post ‘isn’t going to play well mate’. 

‘On the average salary, people have to get generic brands and can’t afford diced salmon,’ they wrote.

‘Inflation bites, but especially when you can’t afford it – you clearly can.’

Another added: ‘Dude you bought 2 pieces of salmon for almost $30, 2x $3 mangos, blackberries and then spent $12 on a dozen eggs. 

‘And you’re on $200,000, cry harder.’

‘[You bought] a few very expensive things. Go away and come back when you understand how the rest of us live.’

‘You should post more photos of your Mercedes, Senator. Celebrate the grind,’ a third wrote.

‘IKR, must be so tough to juggle that with your Merc repayments,’ another added. 

One mocked him even harder: ‘Posts a receipt for diced salmon in front of a Mercedes logo. Man of the people, salt of the earth.’

Others reposted senator Babet’s own selfies taken while he was chomping on cigars.

Senator Ralph Babet  (pictured) said his $211,250 salary is a pay cut and that working in politics is suffering

In the same post senator Babet claimed high grocery prices ‘can be fixed very quickly if they stop making bad decisions and adopt an Australia first attitude.’

Senator Babet is a member of the United Australia Party and ‘freedom and individual liberties’ and is anti-vaccine mandates.

Last June, he claimed his $200,000-plus salary was a ‘pay cut’ and a poor deal because being a parliamentarian was full of ‘suffering’.

‘If you think 200k for the amount of work I will have to do and the amount of suffering I will endure is a good deal, then you’re wrong,’ he tweeted.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Senator Babet for comment.