- Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian Prime Minister to take office
- He proposed to his partner, Jodie Haydon, after three years together
- He proposed to her on a balcony of his official residence
Anthony Albanese became the first Australian prime minister to get engaged while in office, revealing on Thursday that his partner accepted his marriage proposal on Valentine’s Day.
He and Jodie Haydon, a financial services professional, have been together for three years. Albanese said she proposed to him on a balcony of her official residence, known as the Lodge, after a romantic dinner at an Italian restaurant.
“She said yes,” Albanese posted with a love heart symbol on social media platform X.
The first-term prime minister said he had planned both the date and location of the proposal and even helped design Haydon’s diamond ring. But he did not know if the wedding would take place before setting the date for Australia’s next election, sometime between August and May next year.
“Now we will have those discussions between us, which I think people will understand, and we will work out those details, but right now we just want to live in the moment,” Albanese told reporters at a brief news conference on a lawn outside. the shelter.
Anthony Albanese (pictured, left) has become the first Australian Prime Minister to get engaged while in office.
He and Jodie Haydon, a financial services professional (pictured, left) have been together for three years.
Haydon thanked friends, family and strangers for their congratulatory messages
‘It is a great joy to be able to share this news with people and it is wonderful to have found a partner with whom I want to spend the rest of my life. Last night was a great occasion here at the Lodge. “We couldn’t be happier,” he added.
Haydon thanked friends, family and strangers for their congratulatory messages. “It’s been overwhelming, but beautiful,” Haydon said.
Albanese, 60, has an adult son with his first wife. They divorced after a 19-year marriage.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton happily congratulated Albanese in Parliament, hinting at their differences over whether King Charles III should remain Australia’s head of state.
Dutton wants the British monarch to remain Australia’s monarch. Albanese wants Australia to become a republic with an Australian head of state.
“We’re looking forward to our version of the royal wedding in the near future,” Dutton said, drawing laughter from her colleagues.
“I’ll be there, throwing roses in front of you, Prime Minister.” Whatever it takes to get an invite to the black-tie wedding,” Dutton added.
Albanese is only the second prime minister to live with a common-law partner at the Lodge. Julia Gillard led the government from 2010 to 2013, and her partner’s unusual status reportedly delayed Indonesia granting him a visa when she made an official visit to the country in 2011.
In neighboring New Zealand, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern married her longtime partner Clarke Gayford in January, after getting engaged while she was in office nearly five years earlier. She resigned as prime minister last year.