Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon sign the marriage certificate at The Lodge, with celebrant Bree. Photo: Mike Bowers.
The Prime Minister got married in Canberra?
Yes, that really happened, in the capital.
Beyond everyone’s best wishes for the newlyweds, let’s stop and pause for a moment about how big a deal that is for the ACT.
Sure, Anthony Albanese is the first PM to get married while in office, but can anyone really imagine another prime minister holding their wedding ceremony – or any big life event – in the gardens of The Lodge?
Albo has made no secret about how much he and Jodie Haydon enjoy Canberra, and getting married in their capital home has only served to reinforce that sentiment.
In fact, the PM takes every opportunity he can to talk up the capital and express his love for Canberra and Canberrans.
That’s a stark contrast to the man who wanted his job earlier this year, Peter Dutton, and who seized every moment he could throughout the federal election campaign to express his disdain for the capital.
The former opposition leader made no secret about his hatred for Canberra, making sure the whole country knew he wouldn’t ever live in Canberra or in The Lodge (the country granted him that wish, at least).
Dutton spoke of Canberra as though it were a ‘hole’ and of Canberrans as nothing more than public servants he wanted to sack.
His replacement, Sussan Ley, has had to undo much of that damage, and she speaks of the capital city (and public servants) in much more flattering terms.
But the Liberal Party has rarely placed a value on Canberra as a home.
John Howard set the precedent as Prime Minister after his 1996 election by choosing to live in Kirribilli rather than The Lodge and by making sure everyone knew about it.
Nestled on the harbour in Sydney’s Lower North Shore, Kirribilli House is indeed an attractive piece of real estate and befitting of a prime ministerial official residence – for when the PM is in Sydney, that is.
Prime Ministers will, of course, spend a lot of time in Sydney and host numerous interstate receptions and official gatherings.
It is their home – their home away from home.
For a Prime Minister’s tenure, The Lodge is, or at least should be, their home.
Imagine the backdrop of the wedding pics if Albo had married at Kirribilli.
They would have been stunning, with harbour views and the Opera House.
And no one would have blamed the couple if they opted for those gardens (it was all their own money they were spending anyway).
But instead, the Prime Minister of Australia and his partner chose to give Canberra a vote of confidence and express their gratitude.
Local businesses benefited from that decision – florists, caterers, and transport and accommodation providers.
It may have been a tightly held secret and a small, quiet ceremony, but the statement it made about Canberra is loud and very positive.
Albo is a Sydney boy. Ms Haydon was born in Sydney too and grew up on the NSW Central Coast.
It’s almost as if it should have been expected that they would marry in Sydney.
There were plenty of NSW representatives at the wedding.
The celebrant was from the Central Coast, Ms Haydon’s dress was from a Sydney designer, wedding bands from jewellers in Leichhardt, and guests were served beer in specially made cans from a brewery in Sydney’s Inner West.
Yet the wedding itself, as modest as it was, was held at The Lodge in Canberra, and after the event, the PM wanted everyone to know that he and Ms Haydon chose to be married there.
So love him or hate him (and there are plenty of people on both sides of that equation), Albo did Canberra a real solid on Saturday, 29 November 2025, by getting married at The Lodge.
The Prime Minister was making a statement.
