Who is Labor leader Anthony Albanese?
He’s been described by Scott Morrison as a “blank page” who Australia doesn’t really know. So who is the Labor leader hoping to be the next PM?
Federal Election
Don't miss out on the headlines from Federal Election. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Scott Morrison is pitching the 2022 election as a choice between the devil you know and an untried, untested Labor leader in “uncertain times”.
So will the real Anthony Albanese please stand up?
Here’s a rundown of the life and times of the Labor leader.
Who is Anthony Albanese?
Most political leaders have a childhood story that provides an insight into their values. The Labor leader’s own story begins in 1963.
He was born to a single mum, Maryanne, in council housing in Sydney’s inner west.
“Life wasn’t easy. A lot of things were uncertain, but one thing wasn’t – Maryanne’s determination that her son’s life would be better than her own. It was from Maryanne that Anthony learned the values of social justice and fairness,” a blurb titled “Anthony’s Story” on the Opposition Leader’s website reads.
Stream more election news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >
Anthony Albanese only learned truth about his father as a teenager
Mr Albanese grew up believing his father had died in a car accident. He was teased at school as a result of the Italian surname.
His mother Maryanne had always told him the story of meeting his dad on a cruise ship.
“On that ship, she met a young man, Carlo Albanese,’’ he said. “She was a young Catholic woman, and to preserve the honour of the family, I was told – and people were told, that my father had died.
“The term illegitimate or bastard are pretty brutal terms. It was more ‘honourable’ for her to be considered a widow, rather than a single mum at this time.”
As a teenager, Maryanne decided to tell her son the truth.
“She later said it was so difficult for my mum to tell me her story, because she felt as though there was some shame in what had occurred. It took a lot of courage.”
After his mother’s death, his own son Nathan started asking questions.
“My mother passed away in 2002, and my son was born in 2000,” Mr Albanese said.
“And there was a particular day when we were at her grave, and my son was asking me, a little boy asking me, ‘Where is your father?’.”
It was one of the triggers for his search for his biological father Carlos.
“Due to luck, we found his details. We then met, and I discovered I had a brother, a sister, nieces and nephews.”
Mr Albanese first met his dad when he was 46, during an official visit to Italy in 2009.
“They were very surprised that a deputy Prime Minister from the other side of the world was his son,” he said. “He was very welcoming, and he, of course, remembered my mother; he had the same photo that I had.”
His father died in 2014.
First job working for Labor Party
The Labor leader was the first person in his family to finish school and attend university. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics.
While at university he worked at a bank as a teller. But his entire career since leaving university has been working for the Labor Party.
After university, he went to work for a Labor minister Tom Uren, who would become a mentor. In 1989, when he was 26, he became the Assistant General Secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party.
Six years later, he went to work for the New South Wales Premier Bob Carr before he was preselected for the seat of Grayndler in 1996.
In 2001 he was promoted to the opposition Shadow Cabinet, taking the portfolio of Ageing and Seniors. When Kevin Rudd was elected Labor leader in 2006, he took over from Julia Gillard as Manager of Opposition Business in the House, a senior tactical role. In the Rudd Government he was appointed the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Regional Development and Local Government in 2007 and joined cabinet.
Rudd v Gillard years
Mr Albanese was a supporter of Kevin Rudd’s and did not support Julia Gillard’s 2010 leadership coup. Having said that, he had a good relationship with Ms Gillard as prime minister.
In 2012, when Mr Rudd was challenged for the leadership again, Mr Albanese held an emotional press conference declaring his support.
“I rang the Prime Minister this morning and had a lengthy conversation with her. I informed the Prime Minister that I would be voting for Kevin Rudd in Monday’s ballot,’’ he said.
Even though he had worked closely and successfully with Ms Gillard when she was PM his decision did not surprise his colleagues. They always knew where he stood.
He said at the time that his decision stemmed from his opposition to the removal of Mr Rudd by the caucus in 2010. Pleading for an end to Labor’s infighting, he said he wanted to get back to “fighting Tories … that’s what I do”.
He revealed he offered his resignation to Ms Gillard but she declined to accept it.
“I went through the reasons why, and given my position as Leader of the House I also offered my resignation to her,” he said.
“She thanked me for the way that I had conducted myself and expressed confidence that I should remain Leader of the House due to the loyalty and tenacity that I had shown in that position.”
Ms Gillard said this: “Albo is a great Labor man with a great Labor heart … I refused to accept his resignation … I can’t imagine a government I lead without Anthony Albanese in there beside me.
“He is someone who always want to put the best interests of the Labor Party first and get about fighting Tories, to use his terminology from today. I disagree with the decision that Anthony Albanese has made but the one thing I know about Albo is following Monday’s ballot he’ll be back doing what he does, fighting Tories in the parliament and beyond.”
Deputy Prime Minister
In 2013, he was elected by the Labor caucus as deputy prime minister in the new Rudd Labor Government.
In his first speech, he said: “It says a great thing about our nation that the son of a parent who grew up in a council house in Sydney could be deputy prime minister.”
After the 2013 election loss he ran for the leadership but lost to Bill Shorten. He won the popular vote as leader among the membership but lost the ballot in the party room.
For a time he was angry about factional leaders including Kim Carr from the Left faction who threw their support behind Bill Shorten.
2019 divorce
The Labor leader was married to the former NSW deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt for nearly 20 years but announced their divorce in January, 2019. The couple had been together for thirty years.
He later reflected that he “didn’t see it coming” when Ms Tebbutt ended their marriage on New Year’s Day 2019.
“It was a really tough period and that’s the truth and I’ve acknowledged that. I think part of going through a difficult period and coming out the other end is acknowledging that you’re going through it,” he said.
“I found it very tough. The relationship was 30 years old. It’s made for a difficult period. I certainly will always, always remember New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day for that momentous event in my life. I needed to stop trying to understand it and just accept it and accept that it was a decision that had been made and she was moving on with her life in a different direction and I needed to do the same,” he said.
Labor leader 2019
Before the 2016 election, there was again speculation that he might challenge for the leadership. However, a better than expected result at that election quashed those hopes.
Mr Albanese was publicly loyal but at times indicated differences of opinion on key policy issues.
After Bill Shorten lost the 2019 election, Mr Albanese announced his candidacy in the subsequent leadership election. Despite several candidates declaring they would run, including Chris Bowen, he took the leadership unopposed on 30 May, 2019 with Richard Marles as his deputy.
He nearly died in a car accident
Two years after his divorce, Mr Albanese was involved in a serious car accident in January, 2021. His Toyota was rammed by a P-plate driver in a Range Rover and he was rushed to hospital for X-rays.
Leaving Royal Prince Alfred Hospital he said the 17-year-old was apologetic after the accident.
“The young man apologised at the time. I hope that this experience and the consequences of it could have been far more serious than they are,” he said.
He later revealed the accident was more serious than he admitted at the time and it inspired a health kick that saw him drop 18kg.
“In January last year, I had a near-death experience in the car,” he said. “I had a head on car crash and that really causes you to sit back and think about things. I was on pretty heavy painkillers, so I had to have no alcohol. And I just thought I’ll see how long I can go for. I went for five months. So now I have the occasional beer. I had a nice Little Creatures last night.”
By this time, he was dating his new partner Jodie Haydon who helped him recover from the car accident.
PM’s weight loss sledge
This year, Scott Morrison took a swipe at the Labor leader’s image overhaul suggesting that voters knew who he was.
“I’m not pretending to be anyone else. I’m still wearing the same sunglasses,’’ Mr Morrison told Paul Murray Live.
“Sadly, the same suits. I weigh about the same size and I don’t mind a bit of Italian cake. I’m not pretending to be anyone else.”
Mr Albanese said he made no apology for getting match fit for the campaign ahead. And explained how he lost the kilos. He’s now under 80 kilos. “Absolutely no bread,” Mr Albanese said.
“Pasta is the hardest with a name like Albanese; it is mainly your go-to food. But fish with a few veggies or salad is really easy, too. I went alcohol-free for three months and cut down on carbs – potato, bread, pasta, and just increased my exercise as well.
“But I haven’t tried to do anything too dramatic other than giving up alcohol. I don’t drink during the week and have some wine on the weekends and the occasional beer, but I’ve just been cutting back.”
Originally published as Who is Labor leader Anthony Albanese?
‘Bad tax’: Big call on stamp duty
The federal housing minister is signalling a major change that could affect millions of property owners.
Big business weighs in on housing crisis
A powerful business lobby is calling for major reforms to fix the country’s housing crisis.