Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie buys in Balmain

Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie and wife Heather have bought in East Balmain.

They have paid $3.1 m for a two-level contemporary house.

It follows his appointment to the ARL Commission mid-year and into the chairman's role early next year.

Last month they sold their home in Brisbane.

After the $2.19 million Wilston Queenslander-style sale, the Beatties will now divide their time between Sydney and their riverside apartment in the inner Brisbane suburb of Newstead.

Beattie, who is chair of the organising committee for next year’s Commonwealth Games, purchased the five-bedroom hilltop 1920s Wilston house for $310,000 in 1993.

Beattie, who was Queensland Premier from 1998 to 2007, then spending almost a decade in the USA, appears as a presenter on Sky News.