Heckling rang out across Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night when Todd Woodbridge acknowledged the “honourable prime minister, Anthony Albanese” in the crowd at the Australian Open men’s final.
Where a prime minister goes, jeers and boos often follow – most notably from inside of stadiums.
The Victorian deputy premier, Ben Carroll, also got a shout out, and the jeers did not cease until Woodbridge interjected with a sharp “thank you”.
The frosty reception follows Albanese’s decision to overhaul the Coalition’s stage-three tax plan to benefit low- and middle-income earners at the expense of those on high incomes, sparking accusations of a broken promise from the opposition. At last year’s finals, Albanese, himself a keen tennis player, waved on screen and was greeted with cheers, and it was unclear why the mood was different this time around.
Seemingly unfazed, the prime minister posted to social media after the match: “Congratulations to Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner on your incredible victories … Well done to the Australian Open team on a fantastic tournament that brought record crowds to Melbourne.”
“It is a bit of tradition in Australian sport, isn’t it?” Albanese said on Monday morning.
The moment was not lost on the prime minister’s critics. “Australians no longer trust Albanese,” the former United Australia party MP Craig Kelly posted on X. The sentiment was similar to that expressed by Labor itself three years ago, when Scott Morrison was booed at a West Coast Eagles v Collingwood AFL game. It posted to Facebook: “It’s sinking in. Scott Morrison is not on your side.”
Tennis fans are not too fond of prime ministers in their stands. When Morrison was broadcast watching a match between Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas at Rod Laver Arena in 2019, the crowd hollered with disapproval.
To be booed is “a great tradition”, Morrison insisted afterwards.
He and Albanese may be right. It is not uncommon for parliamentarians to be poorly received (not just at sporting events, but also memorials, with Morrison booed at the cricketer Shane Warne’s funeral, and the former Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard booed upon entry at the Labor giant Gough Whitlam’s memorial service in 2014).
Rugby league seems no more welcome a game. Whitlam himself was abused by beer cans and jeers when walking into the 1974 rugby league grand final alongside the senator Ron McAuliffe, who was president of the Queensland Rugby League at the time. “Don’t you ever again invite me to a place where you’re so unpopular,” Whitlam reportedly told McAuliffe on their way out.
In 2010, the then Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd was booed when his face appeared on the big screen at Canberra Stadium during a Raiders-Broncos NRL match in 2010. And at the 2014 NRL grand final between the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs, Abbott waved back at a frosty reception of boos upon his announcement in the post-game ceremony.
Albanese was also booed in early 2022, when he took the stage at Bluesfest to introduce Jimmy Barnes.
Of course, he won the federal election shortly afterwards.
