Latest news with #JodieHaydon
Daily Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
PM witnesses life-changing Cochlear moment in final China engagement
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Anthony Albanese has wrapped up his lengthy state visit to China by watching young boy hear for the first time using an Australian-designed implant. The Prime Minister's final official engagement on Thursday was a tour of Cohclear's plant in Chengdu. Mr Albanese has touted Australia's world-leading med tech sector in the Chinese research hub, keen to carve out a big piece of the pie as demand grows on the back of China's exploding middle class. But he has been keen to stress the human benefits to doing business throughout his time in China. 'It must be extraordinary to hear for the first time,' Mr Albanese remarked as he and fiancee Jodie Haydon were shown around the Cochlear facility. 'You are changing lives.' The plant opened in 2020 and follows the same manufacturing process as in Australia. Donning blue personal protective equipment, Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon ventured into a sterile space to inspect the three main Cochlear products. They were also shown a glass-walled room where the products are assembled. The room was 10-times more sterile than a surgical theatre. Mr Albanese was then taken into a private space where he watched the moment a young boy's Cochlear implant was activated. Speaking to media ahead of the tour, he said it would be an 'incredibly proud moment'. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spruiked Australian technology, including the cochlear impact, on his final official event in China. Picture: NewsWire/ Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer 'The idea that an Australian invention gives someone who has never heard the voice of their mum or dad, brother sister, never heard the sound of airconditioning, to hear sound of the river, the birds tweeting – it's amazing,' Mr Albanese told reporters. 'We should be so proud of what we're doing, and it will be an incredibly proud moment for me this afternoon as Australian Prime Minister, to be able to witness that' He also thanked the boy's family 'who have agreed and … wanted to show the difference that it makes'. After five days of high level meetings and sightseeing in three different cities, Mr Albanese will on Friday fly back to Australia. Originally published as PM watches moment young boy hears for the first time during China trip
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
PM watches moment young boy hears for the first time during China trip
Anthony Albanese has wrapped up his lengthy state visit to China by watching young boy hear for the first time using an Australian-designed implant. The Prime Minister's final official engagement on Thursday was a tour of Cohclear's plant in Chengdu. Mr Albanese has touted Australia's world-leading med tech sector in the Chinese research hub, keen to carve out a big piece of the pie as demand grows on the back of China's exploding middle class. But he has been keen to stress the human benefits to doing business throughout his time in China. 'It must be extraordinary to hear for the first time,' Mr Albanese remarked as he and fiancee Jodie Haydon were shown around the Cochlear facility. 'You are changing lives.' This was incredibly special. Suhang’s cochlear implant was activated, and his parents invited us to witness it. Cochlear is a proud Australian invention, and by sharing our skills and technology we can change lives across the world for the better. Cochlear have now helped… â€' Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 17, 2025 The plant opened in 2020 and follows the same manufacturing process as in Australia. Donning blue personal protective equipment, Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon ventured into a sterile space to inspect the three main Cochlear products. They were also shown a glass-walled room where the products are assembled. The room was 10-times more sterile than a surgical theatre. Mr Albanese was then taken into a private space where he watched the moment a young boy's Cochlear implant was activated. Speaking to media ahead of the tour, he said it would be an 'incredibly proud moment'. 'The idea that an Australian invention gives someone who has never heard the voice of their mum or dad, brother sister, never heard the sound of airconditioning, to hear sound of the river, the birds tweeting – it's amazing,' Mr Albanese told reporters. 'We should be so proud of what we're doing, and it will be an incredibly proud moment for me this afternoon as Australian Prime Minister, to be able to witness that' He also thanked the boy's family 'who have agreed and … wanted to show the difference that it makes'. After five days of high level meetings and sightseeing in three different cities, Mr Albanese will on Friday fly back to Australia.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
PETER VAN ONSELEN: How Xi buttered up Anthony Albanese with a VERY rare personal gesture to Jodie Haydon - and it left the PM beaming
Anthony Albanese has just wrapped up a six-day diplomatic tour of China. It may go down as one of the most carefully orchestrated charm offensives Beijing has ever launched at an Australian leader. It had everything: soft power symbolism, panda photo ops, nostalgic Aussie rock ballads and even a surprise starring role for the Prime Minister's fiancée, Jodie Haydon. Forget shouting into megaphones. This was diplomacy by lunch invitation and curated playlists, and it seems to have worked. Albanese looked less like a wary Western leader managing a complex bilateral relationship and more like a man thoroughly enjoying all the flattery. At the centre of the spectacle was his meeting (and a private lunch, no less) with President Xi Jinping. Not only did Xi extend the diplomatic red carpet, he also invited Jodie to join the lunch soirée, a gesture rarely offered to visiting leaders' partners. For Albanese, it was a clear signal of Beijing's intent to present a warmer, more open face of Chinese diplomacy. 'It was a sign of respect to Australia', he proudly said. But it was more than a simple diplomatic nod. The presence of Haydon, seated beside Xi and Albo in the opulent Great Hall, was China's way of saying 'we're not just wooing your government'. With Albo expected to marry later this year, this was Beijing's version of 'meet the parents'. Xi wasn't just trying to charm a PM, he was buttering up the presumptive First Lady too. And then came the soundtrack. During a gala dinner with Chinese and Australian business leaders, a band played a setlist straight out of Albanese's youth: Paul Kelly's To Her Door, Midnight Oil's Power and the Passion, even a rendition of Powderfinger. This wasn't random, it was meticulously chosen to speak to Albo's political identity: the working-class music fan from inner Sydney who likes to DJ. Maybe China will be on their honeymoon list? 'They did it very well', Albo beamed. 'Those gestures matter', he added. Beijing understood that the personal is political and hit every note. One could almost hear the Stratocaster guitar strings being pulled. The whole trip had an undercurrent of Labor nostalgia, too. Albanese's visit to the Great Wall was a not-so-subtle nod to his political hero Gough Whitlam, who made history there in 1973 when he re-established relations with China. For Albo, this trip was a symbolic full circle moment: the current Labor leader retracing Whitlam's footsteps, casting himself as a statesman with vision, even if the present-day geopolitical environment is arguably considerably more fraught. But for all the pageantry, the PM still has to justify the trip back home, particularly to those more interested in cost of living pressures than Communist Party pleasantries. When asked what the trip meant for average Australians, Albo said: 'From Beijing to Bankstown, what we need is to engage in our national interest…to be focused on cost-of-living, on jobs, on living standards. And that depends on our trade'. China is Australia's largest trading partner. Alongside the formal talks, Albo also visited the Sichuan International Tennis Centre, no coincidence for a PM with a long standing love of the sport. Then came a stop at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, China's crown jewel of soft diplomacy. There, he admired the pandas. 'They're beautiful animals', he said as cameras clicked. The entire visit was a textbook case of soft power in action: China using symbolism, sentiment and star pandas to reframe the bilateral relationship. From the music to the animals to the guest list at lunch, every gesture had the purpose of reminding Australia of the benefits of good behaviour as the Middle Kingdom's rise continues. Still, beneath the smiling photo ops, deeper questions remain. What concessions might Australia now feel pressure to make in return for this reset? And how will this trip age if tensions inevitably flare again, over Taiwan, the South China Sea or human rights? For nowm Albo returns home with a diplomatic win, alongside a panda selfie or two for the family album.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
PM wraps up China visit in panda capital Chengdu
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon at the Great Wall of China near Beijing, China. ( AAP: Lukas Coch )
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The $599 fashion diplomacy from Jodie Haydon with Albanese in China
In a move straight from the royal family's fashion handbook, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's fiancee Jodie Haydon demonstrated she is ready for the dressing demands of being Australia's unofficial first lady. Accompanying Albanese on the Great Wall of China, wrapping up a six-day trip to the Asian superpower, Haydon wore a $599 short-sleeve midi-dress with a floral print and mandarin collar by Australian label Leo Lin. Like Princess Catherine greeting French president Emmanuel Macron in the UK last week, wearing the Parisienne label Dior, Haydon practised fashion diplomacy by paying tribute to her host country and wearing a label with Chinese connections. The brand's founder, Leo Lin, moved to Melbourne from China for his education when he was aged 16, staying on to explore fashion design and assemble his studio in Sydney. 'As an Australian-Chinese brand, we are thrilled to see Jodie Haydon wearing Leo Lin in Leo's home country,' said Laura Good, head of brand at Leo Lin. 'Ms Haydon has been a strong supporter of the Leo Lin label for some time and we loved welcoming her in to our Sydney showroom ahead of the trip.' Loading Leo Lin is stocked in Hong Kong but has been focusing on US expansion for three years, taking over the store windows of Bloomingdales department store in New York in May. 'I truly would love to see Leo Lin in all the best retailers in the world,' Lin said at the unveiling. 'Success in the US is fundamental to Leo Lin's global success, with some of the best international retailers based in this market.' Haydon's breezy outfit was a contemporary update of a belted floral shirt dress worn by Tamie Fraser with then prime minister Malcolm Fraser on the Great Wall in 1976. Haydon provided a modern twist, wearing white sneakers for the walk.
