Anthony Albanese was blasted on national television by critics who said he should hand over his Taylor Swift ticket to a “real Swiftie” ahead of the superstar’s first show in Sydney.
The Prime Minister was among 80,000 fans who gathered at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Friday evening to see Swift perform her Eras Tour in the city for the first time.
But Liberal Party deputy leader Sussan Ley took the opportunity to suggest Albanese should give his ticket to a younger die-hard fan.
“What the Prime Minister does on his nights off is obviously up to him and if he wants to see Taylor Swift, that’s cool,” she said on Sunrise on Friday morning.
“But listening to the emotion of so many parents and so many children and hundreds of thousands of Australians who couldn’t get tickets, I just want to say to the Prime Minister: come on PM, hand over your Taylor Swift ticket to a real Swiftie.
“You could change a life, you will change a life and it will suit you very well.”
Anthony Albanese (pictured with fiancée Jodie Haydon) was called on national television to hand over his Taylor Swift ticket to a ‘real Swiftie’ ahead of the superstar’s first show in Sydney
Swift performed her Eras Tour for the first time in Sydney on Friday evening
Mr. Albanese is known to enjoy live music and has said in the past that Swift’s concerts are unmissable (Mr. Albanese is pictured dancing at a Midnight Oil concert)
When host Natalie Barr asked Ms Ley if she was sure Mr Albanese wasn’t a “real Swiftie”, she dodged the question.
Instead, she brought the conversation back to the “children and parents who are so emotional and disappointed” after not being able to get a ticket themselves.
Albanese told Kyle and Jackie O on Wednesday that he would be attending Friday’s concert.
“Everyone has time for Tay Tay, right,” he said.
Mr Albanese has not been shy about his love for Swift, saying his favorite song is her 2014 hit Shake It Off.
He said the song is one of his “go to jams” and he listens to it on vinyl at The Lodge.
The self-confessed superfan was even seen dancing with schoolchildren to the song in archive footage during an interview on the Today show last June.
Taylor Swift won’t be the only concert Albanese attends this week, as he flies to Melbourne on Saturday to also see Katy Perry.
He will be among an exclusive audience of 200 people watching the private performance at billionaire Anthony Pratt’s mansion in Kew, in Melbourne’s east.
The event will take place in honor of the food and beverage industry, with which Visy, Mr. Pratt’s packaging and recycling company, works closely.
The event will be attended by some of Australia’s most prominent business leaders and politicians, including US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and Victorian Prime Minister Jacinta Allan.
Mr Albanese is a supporter of live music and has been regularly photographed at concerts across Australia.
Last March he raced from Canberra to Brisbane to attend the performance of socialist muso Billy Bragg.
He was also seen at a Gang of Youths concert at Sydney’s Enmore Theater in 2022.
Mr Albanese will also attend an exclusive private performance by Katy Perry in Melbourne on Saturday
Billionaire Anthony Pratt will host the concert at his mansion and has invited 200 of the country’s most influential people to attend