PM Anthony Albanese booed at the Australian Open men’s final

The PM has played down the frosty reception he received at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena during the trophy presentation, forcing a halt to proceedings | WATCH

It was a hostile reception for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Australian Open on Sunday night.

Mr Albanese was in the crowd at Melbourne Park, to watch Italy’s Jannik Sinner, 22, mount a comeback from two sets down to claim his first grand slam title, beating out Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3.

During the closing ceremony, as presenter Todd Woodbridge welcomed the Prime Minister on behalf of Tennis Australia, the atmosphere took an uncomfortable shift. The 15,000-strong audience erupted in vociferous boos, drowning out Woodbridge’s speech and persisting through the introductions of other VIP attendees, including Victoria’s Deputy Premier, Ben Carroll.

Woodbridge managed to regain control with a polite, “Thank you.”



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Mr Albanese brushed off the crowd reaction as he continued to spruik his government’s changes to stage three tax cuts.

The Prime Minister was asked on Monday morning if he expected to be booed by the crowd at Rod Laver Arena.

“It’s a bit of tradition in Australian sport, isn’t it?” he joked.

Mr Albanese reiterated his government’s tax reforms are aimed at middle Australia.

“So many of low and middle income earners have been doing it really tough, and so we have changed our position,” he said. “We’ve redesigned the tax cuts so that every Australian gets a tax cut.”

The cool reception came just days after Mr Albanese’s announcement of stage three tax cuts in response to Australia’s cost-of-living crisis, aimed at providing relief for “middle Australia.”

The proposed cuts involve trimming benefits for higher-income earners in favour of larger reductions for those earning less than $150,000. Many critics have labelled this move a “broken promise,” as Mr Albanese had pledged during the last election to implement the tax cuts in their entirety.

Woodbridge said he “didn’t think it was great” the crowd had booed Mr Albanese.

An audio clip of Woodbridge acknowledging the Prime Minister’s attendance on Sunday night and the hostile crowd reception was played back to the tennis great on ABC radio on Monday morning.

“Well it was, for me, standing in the middle of the court, it was a lot louder than it actually even sounds in the audio there,” he said on ABC Radio Melbourne.

“I tried to move through, which was I think was the right thing to do, just to keep them quiet but they wouldn’t let me so then I obviously had to pause which was interesting.

“I didn’t think it was great. He’s our Prime Minister, and he was the elected official and I think we should respect that.

“But, you know, it’s a sporting event, and the crowds got into him. In the end for me ... (I) was just trying to keep the show on the road and keep it going.”