Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has proposed to his partner Jodie Haydon.
The prime minister shared the romantic news on Thursday morning, making him the first n leader to get engaged while in office.
‘She said yes ❤️,’ Mr Albanese said.
Mr Albanese, 60, took Ms Haydon, 45, to the Italian and Sons restaurant in Canberra on Wednesday evening to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Later that evening, after they’d returned to the Lodge, the PM popped the question.
Daily Mail understands the PM had the ring designed specifically for Ms Haydon.
In a joint statement, the couple said: ‘We are thrilled and excited to share this news and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.
‘We are so lucky to have found each other.’
During his time in office, she’s been by his side every step of the way, earning the nickname ”s First Lady’ as she accompanies him to international events and joins him on the world stage.
His colleagues, including Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Claire O’Neil showered the newly engaged couple in praise and well wishes.
Who is Jodie Haydon?
Ms Haydon, who was born in Bankstown, western Sydney, to parents who were school teachers and grew up on the central coast.
She dropped out of university and began a career in the superannuation industry.
It’s understood she is working as women’s officer at the NSW Public Service Association.
Anthony Albanese has proposed to his partner Jodie Haydon and she said yes
Anthony Albanese with his son Nathan (left) and Jodie Haydon
Mr Albanese took Ms Haydon to Italian and Sons (pictured) in Canberra on Wednesday evening to celebrate Valentine’s Day
How did Jodie Haydon and Anthony Albanese met?
The once-divorced PM met Ms Haydon in early 2020 at a conference in Melbourne where the then-Opposition Leader was speaking.
Mr Albanese asked the crowd if there were any fellow South Sydney fans present and finance worker Ms Haydon, who lives in his Grayndler electorate, shouted: ‘Up the Rabbitohs’.
He later introduced himself and they decided to go for a drink when they were back in Sydney.
He wooed his new girlfriend with a night out at the Young Henrys brewery in Newtown.
‘We had what I thought would just be a drink at Young Henrys in Newtown, and we got on really well. That’s how it started,’ he told Women’s Weekly.
Mr Albanese, a father-of-one, had recently split from his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt after 19 years of marriage and 30 years together.
Mr Albanese said admitted he ‘didn’t see it coming’ when Tebbutt decided to end their marriage on New Year’s Day 2019.
‘I needed to stop trying to understand it and just accept it and accept that it was a decision that had been made and she was moving on with her life in a different direction and I needed to do the same,’ he said.
‘You can tie yourself in knots trying to understand someone else’s decisions and thought processes.’
Anthony Albanese is pictured kissing Jodie Haydon at China Doll restaurant on Sydney’s Woolloomoolo Wharf in 2020
The moment Jodie Haydon fell in love with Anthony Albanese
Ms Haydon, who has never been married or had children, said she wasn’t looking for a relationship but realised she had fallen in love with Mr Albanese when he had a car crash in January 2021.
His Toyota was rammed by a Range Rover and he was rushed to hospital for X-rays but escaped serious injury.
Ms Haydon recalled arriving at the scene of the crash in Marrickville after a phone call and seeing her boyfriend’s smashed-up car.
‘I saw the mess of a car before I saw him and thought ‘he couldn’t survive this”. It was very scary, and in that moment, you realise just how much you love this person – the fear of losing them,’ she said.
‘As I jumped in the ambulance and saw Anthony, I knew then the depth of my feelings towards him.’
Mr Albanese and his ex-wife Carmel Tebbutt – the former NSW deputy premier. The potential future prime minister said he ‘didn’t see it coming’ when Ms Tebbutt ended their marriage on New Year’s Day 2019
Anthony Albanese’s ex-wife Carmel looked after his dog Toto during the election campaign in 2022
What are Jodie Haydon’s political views?
Haydon supports the Labor party and has been a member ‘on and off’ since her thirties.
Ms Haydon previously aired her political views on social media where she has called for the date of Day to be changed, argued for pay rises for teachers, supported refugees and described outspoken feminist Grace Tame as inspiring.
‘Sovereignty has never been ceded. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land,’ she wrote on LinkedIn in 2022.
Ms Haydon argued in this LinkedIn post for the date of Day to be changed. Mr Albanese does not support this view