Although Anthony Albanese’s spouse frequently tweets on progressive topics on social media, she may want to refrain from officially engaging on politics as Australia’s “first lady.”
When Jodie Haydon, 43, began dating the then-59-year-old Prime Minister in 2020, she went from being an ordinary financial employee to a prominent position.
She was photographed rubbing elbows with King Felipe and Queen Letizia at a gala dinner in Madrid before the NATO leaders’ meetings, which began on Wednesday, while she is on tour with Mr. Albanese in Spain.
For the gala dinner, Ms. Haydon opted for a deep green dress and pointed black stiletto heels.
She spent Wednesday taking in the sights of Segovia, about an hour’s drive north of Madrid, mixing with the wives and partners of many of the world’s most influential leaders.
They included First Lady of the United States Jill Biden, who is traveling with her granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan.
Additionally present were the first ladies of Malta, Turkey, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, Latvia, Montenegro, Belgium, Cyprus, Albania, and North Macedonia.
Gauthier Destenay, the companion of Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier, and Juraj Rizman, the partner of Slovakian President Zuzana aputova, joined the women.
She spent Wednesday taking in the sights of Segovia, about an hour’s drive north of Madrid, mixing with the wives and partners of many of the world’s most influential leaders.
They included First Lady of the United States Jill Biden, who is traveling with her granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan.
Additionally present were the first ladies of Malta, Turkey, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, Latvia, Montenegro, Belgium, Cyprus, Albania, and North Macedonia.
Gauthier Destenay, the companion of Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier, and Juraj Rizman, the partner of Slovakian President Zuzana aputova, joined the women.
Ms. Haydon, a Labor member who has never run for public office, is currently employed by the NSW Public Service Association as a women’s officer.
Ms. Haydon freely expresses her beliefs on LinkedIn, where she recently demanded that Australia Day be moved, backed migrants, campaigned for teacher pay increases, and hailed vocal feminist Grace Tame as an inspiration.
She posted a cartoon of an Aboriginal rights activist with the slogan, “Sovereignty has never been ceded,” in a post last year.
Aboriginal land has always been and always will be.
Because colonization deprived Aboriginal people of their homeland, many Indigenous activists want Australia Day to be changed from January 26—the day the British First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788.
The Prime Minister, who said the date should not be changed during the election campaign, holds a different perspective on the topic than Ms. Haydon.
Instead of engaging in culture wars, one of the things we need to do is look for ways to bring Australia together. It’s really ineffective,’ he declared.
Mr. Albanese’s spokesperson declined to comment on their dispute, and Labor insiders dismissed the issue by noting that it is common for partners to hold divergent opinions.
While unlike the US first lady, the Australian prime minister’s partner does not hold any official positions, it is common for them to join significant international or intrastate travels.
Former superannuation fund employee Ms. Haydon backed teachers who went on strike in NSW in December over pay and workload.
“I support the dedicated public educators in New South Wales. Please,” she wrote.
‘I know how challenging this job is since I am the daughter of two former public school teachers.
With its current unsustainable workloads and low incomes, it is obviously undervalued.
We must recruit and keep qualified teachers. They more than ever need our assistance.
Additionally, Ms. Haydon applauded the Fair Work Commission’s decision last month to grant employees 10 days of paid domestic abuse leave.
This is why I’m glad to work for the union movement, which has steadfastly fought for better working conditions, the woman stated.
Those who are suffering at the hands of a violent partner will notice a huge difference as a result of this.
Ms. Haydon has frequently tweeted about women’s safety and gender equality.
She has also been outspoken about Australia’s welcome of refugees.
She posted a touching article from NSW Police last week about a Vietnamese immigrant who worked as a detective in Sydney, saying: “This is a tale that highlights the success of refugees coming to Australia and contributing to society in such a positive way.”
It would seem that Ms. Haydon prefers to express her opinions online.
She pledged not to engage on politics in an interview with News Corp during the election campaign, saying: “Anthony is the one here running for political office, it’s not me.”
“My role will be to concentrate on my day job while letting Anthony concentrate on his.”
The 43-year-old, who was born in Sydney’s Bankstown but raised on the Central Coast, claimed that her family’s dinner-table discussions on politics were common.
She revealed that all of her extended family members vote for Labor.
“My parents had always expressed to me that you have to be interested in politics if you care about education, you care about where you get health care, you care about public transportation, you care about the planet, fairness, equality, you have to take an interest in politics,” she said.
Only Julia Gillard and her now-ex-partner, hairdresser Tim Mathieson, were the other unmarried couple to receive the keys to the prime minister’s residences before Ms. Haydon and Mr. Albanese.
The couple posed in Mr. Albanese’s home in Marrickville, inner-west Sydney, for the March issue of Women’s Weekly, and he confessed he wooed her with a first date at a hipster brewery close to home.
We bonded over what I had assumed would be a simple drink at Young Henrys in Newtown. That’s how it began, he said, speaking to Women’s Weekly.
Early in 2020, they crossed paths at a Melbourne conference where Mr. Albanese was giving a speech.
When the then-leader of the opposition inquired whether there were any other South Sydney supporters there, finance worker Ms. Haydon, who lives in his Grayndler district, yelled, “Up the Rabbitohs!”
They agreed to go out for a drink when they got back to Sydney after he subsequently introduced himself.
Ms. Tebbutt and Mr. Albanese recently ended their 30-year relationship after 19 years of marriage.
He claimed that the abrupt split, which included no third parties but nonetheless came as a shock, left him feeling “emotionally battered.”
Ms. Haydon, who has never been wed or given birth, claimed she wasn’t searching for a relationship but discovered she was in love with Mr. Albanese after learning of his automobile accident in January 2021.
He was taken to the hospital for X-rays when a Range Rover slammed his Toyota, but he was unharmed.
After making a phone call, Ms. Haydon recalls arriving at the crash site in Marrickville and finding her boyfriend’s car in pieces.
Before I saw him, I noticed the wrecked car and remember thinking, “He couldn’t survive this.
“The thought of losing them made you realize how much you love that person, she added. It was quite frightening.
“I understood then the extent of my love for Anthony as I hopped in the ambulance and saw him.”
Ms. Haydon criticized outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a podcast earlier this year.
She criticized the prime minister for not acting on all 55 of the Jenkins report’s recommendations about sexual harassment.
In her capacity as the NSW Public Service Association’s women’s officer, she discussed the problem.
One of the things we could be doing, according to the Jenkins report’s 55 recommendations, is implementing Respect at Work.
“You know, these actions are actionable and practical, but right now, they aren’t being taken; we haven’t seen them adopted more widely.”
To prevent any unforeseen consequences, the government put six of them into effect in September and was consulting on the remaining ones.
Labor pledged to immediately put into effect all of the suggestions, which include giving unions the right to file lawsuits and requiring businesses to take action to reduce sexism.
In the interview, Ms. Haydon also lauded Grace Tame and vowed to be “relentless” in her new position.
She spoke to Ms. Tame, who was sexually assaulted by her school’s math teacher, saying, “We all looked at her bravery and thought here’s someone who’s utilizing the Australian of the Year platform and using it to tell their story.”
In her new position as Women’s Officer, she promised to “truly advance women’s problems but agitate for change.”
She declared, “I’m going to be quite persistent.”