False claims spread following PM’s nuptials
Source: Mike Bowers
Social media has been flooded with false claims and fake news regarding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon’s wedding last week.
Among the assertions are claims that the couple used a VIP RAAF jet to travel on their honeymoon and that former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was best man.
A December 2 Facebook post states: “AUSTRALIAN TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK….The freeloaders got a free wedding and are now off on the RAAF private jet for their honeymoon.”
It is being falsely claimed the PM used an RAAF jet for his honeymoon. Photo: AAP
The post includes an image of Albanese and Haydon stepping off an RAAF aircraft.
However, the image is from 2022 and shows the couple arriving in Madrid for a NATO summit.
Another post claims they used “Australia’s Private Jet” for their honeymoon.
While Albanese used The Lodge, his taxpayer-funded official residence as the wedding venue, he publicly confirmed that he and Haydon paid for all of the expenses related to the event themselves.
False claims have abounded since the wedding. Photo: AAP
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and other Labor figures, including Penny Wong, Mark Butler, Katy Gallagher, Tony Burke, Tim Ayres, Richard Marles, Penny Sharpe and Jo Haylen, were among about 60 guests at the ceremony.
On Monday, December 1, Albanese and his new wife arrived at Sydney domestic airport to leave for a five-day honeymoon.
They were seen boarding a commercial Qantas flight in a video published by the Daily Telegraph, not a VIP RAAF jet as claimed in the Facebook posts.
The photo has a watermark of X’s AI assistant, Grok, in the bottom right. Photo: AAP/X
False claims are also being shared on X, including a photo of Albanese standing next to Joyce.
“Joyce was there as ‘best man’,” the caption reads.
However, the image has been created using artificial intelligence. The watermark for X’s AI assistant, Grok, appears in the bottom right corner.
There is no evidence Joyce was a guest at the wedding.
Albanese made history on November 29 by becoming the first sitting Australian prime minister to marry while in office.
His beloved dog Toto had the ring-bearing honours and was led by Haydon’s five-year-old niece Ella, who was the flower girl.
Anthony Albanese with his son Nathan and ring-bearer Toto. Photo: Mike Bowers
Watched by their 60 friends and family, Albanese and Haydon were married by a celebrant from the NSW central coast.
He had long said they planned to wed before the end of 2025, but remained guarded on the details of the ceremony.
Haydon, who is head of strategic partnerships at Teachers Mutual Bank, met Albanese at a business dinner in Melbourne in 2019.
Albanese, then opposition leader, was a keynote speaker at a national union conference when a quip about the Rabbitohs during his address led him to be introduced to Haydon.
After referencing South Sydney during the speech, Haydon yelled out “up the Rabbitohs”, which later prompted messages between the pair on social media.
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