As this paper reported, Katy Gallagher admitted her lack of dance-floor prowess.
“There was certainly a dance floor and there was music going, yes, and as anyone who knows the PM and Jodie, they both love music,” she said.
“It’s one of the things that they share together and so, yes, there was very tailored music.”
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher (at front) and partner Dave Skinner arrive at The Lodge on Saturday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
CBD is wary of talking in absolutes, but are informed that Gallagher was among the first, if not the first, to leave.
One veteran of Labor politics and on Labor weddings told us the event as “relaxed and comfortable, up there with the best”.
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Not that anyone had any previous prime ministerial weddings to compare it with. The original plans for a much grander wedding back in 2024 were torn up, so in the end far fewer guests were invited than originally intended.
“Alas no,” one guest we had regarded as a dead cert for an invitation told us, in a tone of fond regret, when we asked if they were on the list.
“Heard it’s rather small now,” they said, adding 300 guests had been culled to about 100.
The final number of guests was about 70. Certainly, Albo, as a man of the NSW left, has always known how to ruthlessly crunch the numbers.
It was a frustrating week at CBD towers, which received a tip on Monday that the nuptials would be on Saturday. But we were warned to proceed with extreme caution.
The next day, the 3AW Rumour File made reference to a “prominent politician” getting married and added that November weddings were bad luck for Italians.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrives at The Lodge for the wedding.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
As this masthead reported, the prime minister’s office warned off news editors planning preview stories.
Those news organisations that attempted to press ahead were warned by security agencies that the wedding could be targeted by protest groups.
On this occasion, the media were politely obedient. Even on Saturday afternoon, after photographers took pictures of guests arriving. His Majesty’s Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Corps started to get a bit antsy after 5pm for the government’s official communication channels to supply the relevant information and give permission to publish.
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Members of the media were on tenterhooks, waiting for a release of information from the prime minister’s office before they could flesh out their reports and hit the button to go live.
But just after 5.30pm Daily Mail Australia went live with a photo taken with a long lens. Less than a minute later, official wedding photos and a statement from the couple were released, and all media swiftly published the wedding news, to the quiet relief of those who, unaccustomed to keeping secrets, had all week kept mum, and the joyful astonishment of wider Australia.
Observers say the prime minister’s wedding had no bucks party, no bridesmaids and no groomsmen. This was a cossie livs wedding after all.
Then at 4pm on Sunday, the official announcement that the prime minister was taking five days’ leave. Expect the honeymoon also to be modest.
As we reported previously, North Queensland is a potential honeymoon destination. Townsville is a favoured holiday destination of the couple, who have also been to Broome. One thing is certain: it won’t be Hawaii.
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