Anthony Albanese, Jodie Haydon sit down with 60 Minutes ahead of election

Anthony Albanese said his decision to purchase a $4.3m clifftop property as securing a home for him and Jodie Haydon to spend their twilight years in, as he won’t be PM ‘into my eighties’.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon arriving to make a recent major speech about Medicare. Picture: NewsWire/Scott Gelston

Anthony Albanese has described his decision to purchase a $4.3m clifftop property on the NSW Central Coast as securing a home for him and fiancee Jodie Haydon to spend their twilight years in, remarking that he will not be prime minister “into my eighties”.

As speculation swirls that Mr Albanese will imminently call a federal election, Ms Haydon has stepped into the media spotlight by sitting down beside her husband-to-be for an interview with Channel 9 current affairs show 60 Minutes.

In a wide-changing conversation with host Karl Stefanovic that touched on the cost-of-living crisis, Australia’s relationship with the US and China’s encroachment in Australian waters, the pair also shed light on their plans to marry this year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon being interviewed for 60 Minutes. Picture: Channel 9

The couple revealed that the only detail they had decided on was that Mr Albanese’s dog Toto would be the ring bearer, while Ms Haydon said it could include a Bruce Springsteen song.

Reflecting on how their romance has taken her to the Lodge, the White House and pivotal diplomatic events since they got together in 2020, Ms Haydon agreed her story had the qualities of a fairytale.

“Did I see my life panning out this way? Absolutely not,” she said. “I think many of my other single girlfriends and I thought we would end up like the Golden Girls one day, we’d all live together up the coast and and that would be life.

“So on these trips that we do, I actually take them quite seriously, because you know that you are also representing Australia in those moments.”

The couple met at a function where Ms Haydon yelled out “up the Rabbitohs” at the then opposition leader, before she sent him a private message outlining their common interests.

In response to teasing her approach had been too forward, Ms Haydon said “to all the single independent ladies out there, why can’t we make the first move?”.

Mr Albanese said they “just clicked” on their first date.

As their love bloomed, they couple began looking for a place of their own to enjoy life post-politics, settling on coastal enclave Copacabana.

Reports that the pair had purchased the four-bedroom home with ocean views in October triggered a wave of criticism that the Labor leader was out of touch and planning for life after his time as prime minister.

“Look, Jodie and I are getting married,” he said. “What you don’t do is move into the family home where (first wife Carmel Tebbutt) and I raised Nathan together as a family.

“(I) won’t be prime minister into my eighties and therefore we have bought a place close to where Jodie grew up.”

Mr Albanese said his fiancee was a proud “Coastie”, adding: “It was very much a personal decision, not a political one. And I think Australians get that.”