At the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House, Nationals leader David Littleproud and his partner were the unfortunate recipients of an unpleasant table list blunder.
Since 2019, a few months after his divorce from his ex-wife Sarah, Mr. Littleproud has been seeing banking executive Amelia Dobson.
The couple was among the first to arrive on Wednesday night for what is thought to be their first official event since dating began.
But when they looked at the seating chart to identify their seats, they saw that Ms. Dobson was listed as “Amelia Littleproud” even though neither of their fingers had a ring on them.
Ms. Dobson found the error amusing and kept the table number with the name that was far too soon as a souvenir, but Mr. Littleproud didn’t seem as impressed.
The couple first gained notoriety during the May 21 federal election, and a few days later Mr. Littleproud succeeded Barnaby Joyce as leader of the Nationals.
In his seat of Maranoa, west of Brisbane, the father-of-three shared joyful photos of himself and Ms. Dobson, 37, after they had cast their ballots and celebrated with “democracy sausages” on Instagram.
He and Sarah, who had been married for 20 years, are thought to have started dating early 2019.
The day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced his separation from his ex-wife, Carmel Tebbutt, Mr. Littleproud made the announcement.
In January 2019, Mr. Littleproud announced his divorce to the Warwick Daily News, stating, “It is an amicable breakup.”
“My wife Sarah and I have not been together for a while.”
A little over a year prior to being appointed as a cabinet minister, the member of Parliament for Maranoa had praised his wife in his first speech to Parliament in September 2016.
2016 saw him address the House of Representatives with the words, “I would like to pay respect to my family.”
“My wife, Sarah, and our three boys, Tom, Hugh, and Harry, are a continual pillar of support for me, and for that I am very grateful,” said the speaker.
Ms. Dobson, who shares a kid with her ex-husband, and Mr. Littleproud have been shown together at events with their respective families ever since they announced their separation in 2019.
On Christmas Day in 2020 and again in 2021, they took a joyful photo with her parents and two younger sisters at her family’s residence in Clifton, which is a part of Mr. Littleproud’s electoral district.
On LinkedIn, Ms. Dobson frequently likes and shares Mr. Littleproud’s posts, most notably the one commemorating his 40 years as a Nationals member.
Ms. Dobson, who hails from the Japanese city of Hiroshima, grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland, and has three sisters, also had a protracted career in finance.
She started working at the Toowoomba branch of Suncorp in 2007 before leaving in 2017 to take a position as executive manager of regional and agriculture for Queensland’s south-west at the Commonwealth Bank.
In 2011, Mr. Littleproud also performed agriculture banking duties for Suncorp in Toowoomba.
Before he became a politician, he worked there for nearly five years.
Before transferring to Suncorp, he spent 17 years working for the National Australia Bank.
Mr. Littleproud and Ms. Dobson have been contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment.
After a three-way race between Darren Chester, a former deputy prime minister, and Barnaby Joyce, Mr. Littleproud emerged victorious as the Nationals’ leader.
As a result, Mr. Joyce’s second term as leader, which began in June 2021 after he ousted Michael McCormack, lasted less than a year.
The 45-year-victory old’s for the Nationals marks a change in strategy and may assist in defusing the “climate wars.”
Mr. Littleproud supported the Coalition’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while Mr. Joyce opposed it.
“The National Party today continues its journey towards 2025, with a vibrant team, ready to express the policies that are crucial for regional and rural Australia,” the new leader declared.
This is about our party moving forward, not veering to the left or the right, but rather bringing common sense to Canberra, he added.
Elections are won in the reasonable centre, not by following extremes down dead ends.
Perin Davey, a senator from New South Wales, was chosen as deputy leader, and Bridget McKenzie as senate leader.
In order to hold Labor accountable and eventually bring the Coalition back to power in 2025, Mr. Littleproud promised to work closely with the Liberal Party, which is currently led by Peter Dutton.
In spite of his confidence in the Nationals’ path going into the 2025 election, he stated that there will be lessons to be learned from the election setback.
We must study and learn from the election outcomes, he said, not just in terms of National Party seats but also in terms of Liberal seats.
What matters is that we embark on a path together, a journey, to 2025.
In December 2017, Mr. Joyce announced his separation from Natalie, his ex-wife of 24 years with whom he had four daughters, during a parliamentary discussion on same-sex marriage.
After pictures of his former employee, Vikki Campion, who was heavily pregnant, surfaced in February 2018, news of his affair with Campion quickly spread.
Thomas and Sebastian, the couple’s two little kids, were born recently.