PM Anthony Albanese’s two weeks of heartache after Carmel Tebbutt confronted him about divorce

Anthony Albanese fled to London and Portugal to clear his head after being blindsided by his wife seeking a divorce after two decades of marriage, with the prime minister admitting he was even considering quitting politics altogether.

The Labor leader opened up during a radio interview on Tuesday about the difficult weeks following his ex-wife’s shocking decision, reiterating that he was blindsided by his wife’s revelation that she was unhappy in marriage.

“I didn’t understand it, but I accepted it,” he told Melbourne’s Triple M radio.

Carmel Tebbutt, the former Deputy Prime Minister of NSW, told Mr Albanese she wanted a divorce on New Year’s Day in 2019, after 19 years of marriage and 30 years together.

In March he was on a flight to London to visit friends, and then to Lisbon. He spent a total of two weeks abroad.

“It was two weeks to clear the air, decide what I wanted to do with my life, decide if I wanted to run again,” he said.

He made the decision to come home and throw himself into public life, announcing a run for the top job ahead of the 2022 election.

Mr Albanese and Labor raced to victory, and along the way they found love again with Jodie Haydon.

The duo met at an event in Melbourne where he addressed the crowd and mentioned his love for the South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL club.

Ms. Haydon was a guest and revealed that she was also an ardent fan of the team. They hit it off and they’ve been together ever since.

“I’ve never done Tinder,” Mr. Albanese said, acknowledging that it would be “fine” for him to use it — “except [everyone] would know’.

He said, ‘That was it [incredibly challenging], but you live in the public eye. It was very difficult for me personally, but Carmel made the decision that she wanted to move on with her life… our son had turned 18, he had graduated from school.

“It was a decision I found difficult, but clearly she was entitled to.”

Despite the heartbreak, Mr. Albanese and Ms. Tebbutt appear to be on good terms.

They famously have ‘shared custody’ of their dog, Toto, and Ms Tebbutt was seen on the campaign trail for Labor during the election.

Mr Albanese said at the time that she “absolutely” supported his bid to become prime minister and was doing everything she could to help, including holding Toto through the most exhausting parts of the campaign.

As for his new relationship, Mr Albanese said it is “fantastic” that he has “someone to spend his personal life with” along with his son Nathan, especially given the complex challenges involved in running a country.

“I’m most proud of my resilience,” he said. “I’ve persevered, I’ve stayed true to my values ​​and I think I’ve made a difference.”

Mr Albanese did the media rounds in Melbourne on Tuesday morning. He is still promoting his federal budget, which ran in surplus for the first time in 15 years, and is fighting back against the Greens over his housing bill.

The Greens and coalition last week blocked a Senate vote on the Housing Australian Future Fund to build 30,000 new social and affordable homes over the next five years.

The Greens say it is not doing enough to solve the crisis. They want a national rent freeze and the $500 million annual spending cap to be raised significantly.

And opposition leader Peter Dutton also opposed the policy, warning that rising migration over the next five years will significantly exacerbate the housing crisis.

He also argued that the government has ‘no plan’ to ease the pressure on Australians.

“You can’t announce a Big Australia policy, with 1.5 million people coming to Australia in five years, competing with Australians who can’t rent an apartment or a house now, who can’t afford to own a house now.” buy,” said Mr. That’s what Dutton said Monday.

“You’re going to put upward pressure on prices, both rent and house prices, while at the same time suffocating supply.”

But the Prime Minister said Mr Dutton’s argument is not “based on facts”, reiterating that his housing policy offers a real solution.

Under the proposed policy, Labor would invest $10 billion and all proceeds – up to $500 million a year – would be used to build the new properties.

As it stands, Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather describes the bill as a “gamble on the stock market” that his party is unwilling to take, noting that the Future Fund lost 1.2 percent in 2022.

“Had Labor already invested the $10 billion, $120 million would have been lost, with no profit to build one house,” Chandler-Mather said.

According to Mr Albanese’s proposal, 20,000 social housing units would be built within the first five years of the scheme, of which 4,000 would be specifically allocated to women and children fleeing domestic violence.

Older women at risk of homelessness would also receive special attention, while 10,000 affordable housing units would be made available to frontline workers.