Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dines with families, visits shops on Melbourne visit

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has enjoyed a relaxed Sunday morning in Melbourne, meeting locals and stopping for a coffee.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with young families and stopped for brunch at a cafe on his weekend visit to Melbourne.

Mr Albanese was out and about again in the city’s northern suburbs on Sunday, after he arrived in Melbourne on Saturday to attend the Lunar New Year Festival in Box Hill.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese enjoyed lunch in Melbourne’s north with local MP Kate Thwaites and her family. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

Mr Albanese and Ms Thwaites then visited the Macleod IGA Xpress store to speak with the owners. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

The Prime Minister was joined by local Jagajaga MP Kate Thwaites as he met young families in Macleod, visiting shops and stopping at a playground.

“We’re making childcare cheaper for more than one million families – including these Melbourne locals I met this morning,” Mr Albanese wrote on Twitter.

The PM stopped to take selfies with families as he made his way through Macleod towards a children’s playground. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

Mr Albanese shares a light moment with a young girl in Macleod. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

After stopping for brunch at Mr Macleod cafe with Ms Thwaites, her husband Daniel and their two children Harriet and Gilbert, the Prime Minister then visited the IGA Xpress store in Macleod and met the owners, along with a representative from the Macleod Traders Association.

The PM held babies and played with people’s pets at the Macleod Village Green Playground in Melbourne’s north. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

The photo op was intended to promote the federal government’s cheaper child care policy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

He then walked over to the Macleod Village Green Playground where he greeted locals, taking photos with dozens of families, holding babies and patting dogs.

A baby appears content in the Prime Minister’s arms at Macleod. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

The Prime Minister has spent time in Sydney with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and in Devonport with Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff in recent days, after earlier visiting Alice Springs amid the NT town’s crisis.

He is expected to attend Sunday night’s Australian Open men’s singles final at Melbourne Park, where Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic will battle Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Originally published as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dines with families, visits shops on Melbourne visit