Federal election 2022
It’s been a whirlwind introduction to public life for Jodie Haydon.
All new relationships have their tests but very rare is it that they take place on the campaign trail when one member is trying to become prime minister.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon on Fitzroy Island in north Queensland during the election campaign.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Now Haydon, who stood by Anthony Albanese’s side on Saturday as he thanked Australia for voting for change, has been thrust further into the public spotlight in the role of first partner to the prime minister elect.
“Thank you for coming into my life and for sharing this journey,” Albanese said to Haydon as she stood next to him at the Labor victory party on Saturday night alongside Albanese’s son Nathan whom he shares with his former wife, Carmel Tebbutt.
Much has been written about whether Australia is ready for a divorced prime minister – Albanese split from former NSW Labor minister Tebbutt in 2019 – but Haydon seems to be rising to the occasion having jumped boots and all into the campaign.
Haydon accompanied Albanese at points throughout the six-week election campaign, attending Sydney’s Royal Easter Show right at the start, and travelling to Fitzroy Island in north Queensland to meet a rescue turtle.
It is perhaps not where she expected to be just over two years ago, when she first met Albanese at a function after the Labor leader asked the audience if there were any South Sydney Rabbitohs fans in the room and Haydon called out her support.
In an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly earlier this year, Albanese said Haydon yelled out “Up the Rabbitohs”, and he later introduced himself.
At the time neither was looking for a relationship, Haydon told the magazine.
“I’d reached a point in my life where I was enjoying being single,” she said.
Shortly after that first meeting, the pair hit it off over beers at the trendy Young Henry’s brewery in Sydney’s inner west.
“We had what I thought would just be a drink at Young Henry’s in Newtown, and we got on really well. That’s how it started,” Albanese told the magazine.
The pair were able to keep a low profile at the start of the pandemic, but their relationship was first thrust into the spotlight in June 2020 after they were photographed kissing.
Haydon told News Corp in an interview last month there was no real way to prepare for public scrutiny and the anxiety that comes with it.
“But I had Anthony, who is really protective of me and reassuring, which I’m grateful for,” she said.
Haydon, 43, was born to school teacher parents in Bankstown, in Sydney, but grew up on the Central Coast.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese claims victory on Saturday night, accompanied by his partner Jodie Haydon and his son Nathan.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Her lengthy career in the superannuation industry has seen her live in Melbourne and Sydney, but she now lives in Stanmore in Sydney’s inner west, around the corner from Albanese, who lives in Marrickville.
While happy to appear at photo opportunities with Albanese during the campaign, Haydon has also continued to do her day job and said she intends to stay away from political commentary.
“My job will be to focus on my day job and allow Anthony to focus on his,” she told News Corp.
Haydon is in the unusual position of deciding whether she wants to move in with the prime minister once he has decided where he will base himself – mostly The Lodge in Canberra.
Albanese’s immediate focus is on the Quad meeting in Japan on Tuesday, but after that, he and Haydon will have time to make decisions about where they will live as he takes office.
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