Australian leader Anthony Albanese, 60, becomes the country’s first prime minister to get engaged while in office after proposing on the balcony of his official residence

Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to get engaged while in office. On Thursday he revealed that his partner accepted his marriage proposal on Valentine’s Day.

He and Jodie Haydon, a financial services professional, have been together for three years. Albanese said he proposed on a balcony of his official residence, known as the Lodge, after a romantic dinner at an Italian restaurant.

“She said yes,” Albanese posted with a love heart symbol on social media platform X.

The first-term Prime Minister said he planned both the date and location of the proposal and even helped design Haydon’s diamond ring. But he did not know whether the wedding would take place before setting the date for Australia’s next election, sometime between August and May next year.

“We’ll have those discussions between us now, which I think people would understand, and figure out those details, but we just want to live in the moment right now,” Albanese told reporters during a brief news conference on an outdoor lawn. the Lodge.

He and Jodie Haydon, a financial services professional, (pictured, left) have been together for three years

Haydon thanked friends, family and strangers for their well wishes

‘It’s so nice to be able to share this news with people and it’s great that I’ve found a partner who I want to spend the rest of my life with. Last night was a wonderful occasion here at the Lodge. We couldn’t be happier,” he added.

Haydon thanked friends, family and strangers for their well wishes. “It was just overwhelming, but beautiful,” Haydon said.

Albanese, 60, has an adult son with his first wife. They divorced after 19 years of marriage.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton offered lighthearted congratulations to the Albanians in parliament, hinting at their differences over whether King Charles III should remain Australia’s head of state.

Dutton wants the British monarch to remain Australia’s monarch. Albanians want Australia to become a republic with an Australian head of state.

“We look forward to our version of the royal wedding sometime in the near future,” Dutton said, prompting laughter from his colleagues.

“I’ll be there throwing roses for you, Prime Minister. Whatever it takes to get an invite to the gala wedding,” Dutton added.

Albanese is only the second Prime Minister to live with a common-law partner in the Lodge. Julia Gillard led the government from 2010 to 2013, and her partner’s unusual status is said to have prevented Indonesia from issuing him a visa when she made an official visit to the country in 2011.

In neighboring New Zealand, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern married longtime partner Clarke Gayford in January after getting engaged almost five years earlier while in office. She resigned as prime minister last year.