Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and fiancée Jodie Haydon, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and wife Amanda Luxon pose for a selfie as they visit a mountain range in Central Otago on August 10, 2025 near Queenstown, New Zealand. Photo by Office of the Prime Minister of New Zealand via Getty Images
As soon as he arrived, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was greeted by his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, with a bear hug. As they left the press conference, a visibly relaxed Albanese joked to the media, “We’re going inside for a cuddle.”
Albanese spoke of the “uncertain world” faced by both nations. The one certainty, he said, was that “Australia and New Zealand stand together,” as part of a relationship going back to the ANZACs.
