Anthony Albanese’s secret holiday destination is revealed: Prime Minister jets back into Australia after seven-day break in Palau with his fiancée Jodie Haydon
Anthony Albanese has boarded a return flight following a weeklong holiday with his fiancée, as their secret destination has been revealed.
The Prime Minister spent what is believed to be his first private holiday since taking office in 2022 on Palau, an island country in the western Pacific.
The mystery location was revealed on Sunday after Albanese requested a seven day news blackout for security reasons.
While the trip was privately funded, Qantas offers subsidised flights to the remote island to promote tourism to the region.
He arrived at the local airport about 7am this morning, shortly before check-in closed, and did not speak with gathered members of the media .
He was joined on the short getaway by taxpayer-funded Australian Federal Police agents and fiancée Jodie Haydon.
The pair flew economy on a six-hour direct Qantas flight from Brisbane to Koror, Palau dubbed the ‘Palau Paradise Express’, according to news.com.au.
The trip came at a tumultuous time for Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who walked back a key campaign promise – super earnings tax reform – while the Prime Minister luxuriated a few thousand kilometres away.
Anthony Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon have wrapped up a week-long trip, believed to be the Prime Minister’s first holiday since taking office in 2022. They are pictured on a separate, official trip to Beijing in July
It is unclear why Albanese decided to coincide the announcement with his first overseas trip in years, but it allowed him to escape questions altogether.
Qantas first launched the direct flight path to Palau in December 2024 under a contract awarded to the airline by the federal government.
It announced it would continue to offer the service as recently as August this year, following strong market demand and growth in tourism.
The announcement of the trip sparked speculation Albanese and Ms Haydon were jetting off to tie-the-knot, after the pair revealed in February they would get married by year’s end.
‘It will be small, intimate. Possibly outdoors, in the second half of this year, with our family and loved ones,’ Ms Haydon told Australian Women’s Weekly.
‘And you can be sure (pet cavoodle) Toto will make an appearance.’
But the speculation was put to bed when the Prime Minister’s office confirmed that the couple would not be getting married overseas during their holiday.
Albanese’s announcement of the trip, though short and tight-lipped, has been compared favourably with his predecessor Scott Morrison’s trip to Hawaii during the 2019 to 2020 bushfires.
The Prime Minister travelled to Palau, an archipelago in the western Pacific (pictured)
The then-Prime Minister faced fierce criticism for going on an unannounced family break at a time when fires were claiming lives and homes.
Objections to Morrison’s surprise holiday only grew when his office refused to confirm if he had gone on holiday, citing ‘security concerns’ and ‘protocol’.
Morrison said he had been receiving regular updates on the bushfires disaster as well as the ongoing search for and treatment of victims of the White Island tragedy.
Eventually, Morrison returned to Australia early from the family holiday after extensive criticism.
Mr Morrison’s holiday led to the Twitter hashtag #wherethebloodyhellareya trending across the country all week.
More to come.
