‘She said yes’: Australia's Prime Minister Albanese gets engaged to his partner
Albanese would be first Australian leader to marry in office
Sydney: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has asked his long-time partner Jodie Haydon to marry him, potentially becoming the first Australian leader to tie the knot while in office.
Albanese announced the engagement Thursday in a post on his official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"She said yes," he wrote, alongside a photo of the smiling couple.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, a close friend of Albanese, responded to the post with her congratulations.
"Love is a beautiful thing. I'm so happy for you both!" she said.
Albanese came to power in 2022 as only the third Australian prime minister to be unmarried when assuming the role. He divorced his first wife, Carmel Tebbutt, in 2019. No Australian prime minister has wed while in office.
Haydon, a former worker in the superannuation industry, said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that she and Albanese met in late 2019 and started dating "- getting to know each other well during the COVID pandemic.
She has performed official duties as the prime minister's partner, accompanying him on international trips and meeting with world leaders during state visits.
Albanese has one son, Nathan, who was born in 2000 "- and a much-loved cavoodle dog named Toto.