Anthony Albanese, the only son of a mother who lived on a pension in a government residence in a suburb of Sydney city, has reached the post of Prime Minister of Australia. He is a hero of Australia’s multi-cultural society. He described himself as the only candidate from the ‘rural ethnic minority’ (non-Anglo-Celtic) community for the post of prime minister in 121 years. His friends call him ‘Alban-Is’. Growing up in a government residence in suburban Camperdown, the economic condition of Albanians has made him the leader who led the middle-left Australian Labor Party to power for the first time since 2007. He is known by his childhood nickname ‘Albo’.
In his election-winning speech, Albanese said, ‘Every parent wants more for the next generation. My mother dreamed of a better life for me and I hope my journey will inspire Australians to rise to the heights of stars.’ During his six weeks of campaigning, Albanese repeatedly referred to lessons learned from his childhood in deprivation.
In Australia in the 1960s, to protect Albanese from being ‘illegitimate’ in conservative society, he was told that his father, Carlo Albanese, from Italy, had died in a car accident after marrying his mother, Mariane Elleri, in Europe. His mother told him the truth when he was 14 that his father did not die and that his parents had never married. They both met on a ship during a trip abroad during 1962.
Fearing not to hurt his mother’s feelings, Albanese sought his father after his death in 2002. He met his father in 2009 in Barletta, southern Italy. He had gone to Italy for business meetings as Australia’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure. Albanese reported that he was 12 when he joined his first political campaign.
Albanese has pledged to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve Australia’s international reputation for being behind climate change. The previous administration had committed to stick to a promise made in the Paris Agreement in 2015, that is, 26 to 28 percent less than 2005 levels by 2030. The Labor Party of Albania has promised a cut of 43 percent.