Lachlan Murdoch has upstaged the visit to Australia of his father Rupert, the global media baron and head of News Corp, after splashing out A$23m (US$21m) on a Sydney mansion sold by the French government’s former consulate.

The sale of “Le Manoir” set a 2009 Australian record, according to RP Data, the property research group, eclipsing the A$18m recently paid by James Packer, the Australian gaming billionaire, for another property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.