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Anthony Norman Albanese (born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician who is the current Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party. He is also the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Minister for Regional Development and Local Government and the Leader of the House of Representatives. He has represented Grayndler in the Australian Parliament since 1996.
Albanese has been described as "Labor's Parliamentary go-to man, a bloke with willingness and enthusiasm for fronting up – whether at the Dispatch Box, to protesters or even in backing a losing leadership candidate".
Education and early career
Albanese was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Camperdown and was educated at St Joseph's Primary School in Camperdown and St Mary's Cathedral College in Sydney. He was raised by a single mother and said she raised him with "three great faiths: the Catholic Church, the South Sydney Football Club and Labor", adding that he had always remained faithful to the latter two.
After finishing school, he worked for the Commonwealth Bank for two years before studying economics at the University of Sydney. There he became involved in student politics and was elected to the Students' Representative Council. It was also where he started his rise as a key player in the left faction of the Labor Party.
Albanese completed his degree and took on the role of research officer to the then Minister for Local Government and Administrative Services, Tom Uren, who was to become something of a mentor to him. In 1989, the position of Assistant General Secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party became vacant when John Faulkner was chosen for a Senate seat and Albanese took on the role for the next six years. In 1995, he returned to policy work as a senior adviser to the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr.
Political career
When Jeannette McHugh announced she wouldn't recontest her seat of Grayndler at the 1996 election, Albanese won preselection for the seat. The campaign was a difficult one with aircraft noise a big political issue following the opening of the third runway at Sydney Airport and the newly established No Aircraft Noise party (NAN) having polled strongly in the local area at the 1995 NSW election. Veteran political pundit Malcolm Mackerras predicted NAN would win the seat. However, they ran third in the end with less than 14% of the vote and Albanese was elected with a comfortable 16% majority.
In his maiden speech to parliament, he spoke at length about aircraft noise and the need to build a second Sydney Airport as well as his support for funding public infrastructure in general, multiculturalism, native title, the social wage and childcare. He concluded by saying, "For myself, I will be satisfied if I can be remembered as someone who will stand up for the interests of my electorate, for working class people, for the labour movement, and for our progressive advancement as a nation into the next century."
In his first year in parliament he continued this theme speaking up on behalf of the Northern Territory's euthanasia legislation, indigenous people in the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy and entitlement to superannuation for same-sex couples. This latter issue became something of a crusade for Albanese. He moved a private member's bill unsuccessfully in 1998 that would have given same-sex couples the same rights to superannuation as de facto heterosexual couples. Over the next nine years, he tried again three more times unsuccessfully until the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007 saw the legislation passed. Albanese has since turned his attention to marriage equality for same-sex couples.
In 1998, Albanese was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary, a position which assists Ministers and Shadow Ministers and is often a stepping stone to a full ministerial position. In 2001 he was promoted to the Opposition Shadow Ministry with the portfolio of Ageing and Seniors. A 2002 reshuffle saw him become Shadow Minister for Employment Services and Training and in 2004 he became Shadow Minister for Environment and Heritage. It was during this latter role that then prime minister John Howard and science minister Brendan Nelson started raising the idea of nuclear power for Australia. Albanese campaigned strongly against them and elements within his own party arguing, "Nuclear energy doesn't add up economically, environmentally or socially, and after more than 50 years of debate, we still do not have an answer to nuclear proliferation or nuclear waste."
In 2005, he added Shadow Minister for Water to his existing responsibilities and was also appointed Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House. In December 2006, when Kevin Rudd became opposition leader, Albanese took over from Julia Gillard as Manager of Opposition Business in the House, a senior tactical role on the floor of the parliament, and was appointed Shadow Minister for Water and Infrastructure.
In the 2007 Federal election in which Labor came to power, Albanese was re-elected to the seat of Grayndler with a 3.72% swing toward the Labor Party. As part of the Rudd Ministry, it was announced that Albanese would become the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. The new Ministry was sworn in at Government House on 3 December.
On 22 August 2011, a convoy of trucks from North Queensland descended on Canberra's Parliament House, to hold a peaceful protest, against fuel costs and the carbon tax. Inside Parliament, during question time, Anthony Albanese faced the television cameras, labelling the protesters outside as “the convoy of no consequence". This caused outrage amongst supporters of the protest and complaints to media outlets. A week later a public rally in support of the truckers was held outside Anthony Albanese's, Grayndler office in Marrickville.
In January 2012, Albanese plagiarised several lines from the 1995 film The American President in a speech at the National Press Club.
After Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigned from his cabinet post on 22 February 2012 to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Albanese offered his resignation as Leader of the House to Gillard. At a press conference on 25 February 2012, he announced he would vote for Kevin Rudd in the caucus leadership ballot, and that Gillard had refused his offer of resignation. In response to a question on his personal feelings around the leadership spill, he remarked "I like fighting Tories. That's what I do."
Following a further failed attempt to reinstall Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister in March 2013, Simon Crean was sacked as a minister, and his responsibilities as Minister for Regional Development and Local Government were assumed by Albanese.
On 26 June 2013, following a Labor Party leadership vote in favour of Kevin Rudd, Albanese was elected by caucus as Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party.
Albanese is the NSW leader of the Federal Socialist Left faction of the Australian Labor Party.
Personal life
Albanese is married to Carmel Tebbutt, former Deputy Premier of New South Wales and the member for the state electoral district of Marrickville, which overlaps with Grayndler in Sydney's inner west. They have one son. Albanese describes himself as "half-Italian and half-Irish" and a "non-practicising Catholic". He is also a music fan who reportedly once went to a Pogues gig in a Pixies shirt and intervened as Transport Minister to save a Dolly Parton tour from bureaucratic red tape.
As a lifelong supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, he was a board member of the club from 1999 to 2002 and influential in the fight to have the club readmitted to the National Rugby League competition. During October 2009 The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Albanese had opposed an attempt to appoint the former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard to a senior position in the NRL. Albanese admitted he had phoned the NRL chief executive, David Gallop, as well as other league officials, to advise them against the idea. He then implored officials at Souths to help stop the suggestion from gaining momentum. In 2013, he was made a life member of Souths.
See also
References
- ^ Maley, Jacqueline (26 December 2009). "Catholics divided in the House". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "Anthony Albanese". The Power Index. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- "Anthony Albanese". Australian Labor Party. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- "Transcript of Press Conference 25 Feb 2012". Anthony Albanese personal website. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ "The Hon Anthony Albanese MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- "Rise of the campus pollies". The Age. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- "Crikey List: which MPs were involved in student politics?". Crikey. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ "Governor-General's Speech: Address-in-Reply: Maiden Speech". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- Albanese, Anthony MP (28 October 1996). "Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996". Australian House of Representatives: Hansard. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Albanese, Anthony MP (6 November 1996). "Hindmarsh Island bridge Bill 1996". Australian House of Representatives: Hansard. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Albanese, Anthony MP (10 December 1996). "Superannuation: Same sex partners - Adjournment debate". Australian House of Representatives: Hansard. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Albanese, Anthony MP (22 June 1998). "Superannuation (Entitlements of same sex couple) Bill 1999". Australian House of Representatives: Hansard. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Albanese, Anthony MP (24 August 2011). "Same-Sex Relationships - Constituency statements". Australian House of Representatives: Hansard. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- "Full list of changes to the Gillard ministry". The National Times. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Albanese, Anthony MP (6 September 2012). "House of Representatives Practice". Commonwealth of Australia. pp. 70–71. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- "An abrogation of responsibility". Online Opinion. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- "Howard welcomes new debate on nuclear power". The Age. 10 June 2005. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- "Australian Electoral Commission summary of Grayndler, Federal Election 2007". Australian Electoral Commission. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
- "Plagiarising The American President". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 27 January 2012.
- Albanese, Anthony (25 February 2012). Labor Minister Anthony Albanese sheds tears as he supports Kevin Rudd. Australia News Network. Canberra, Australia. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - "Full list of changes to the Gillard ministry". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- Packham, Ben; Shanahan, Dennis (26 June 2013). "Gillard backers quit as Labor MPs return to Rudd to take on Abbott". The Australian. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- "Albanese denies Tebbutt's leadership ambitions". ABC News. Australia. 17 May 2009.
- Albanese, Anthony (14 February 2006). "Theraputic Goods Amendment (Repeal of Ministerial Responsibility for Approval of RU486) Bill 2005, Second Reading". Anthony Albanese. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- McIlveen, Luke (12 April 2012). "Somebody was on their last leg, but it wasn't Shane MacGowan". News.com.au. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- McCabe, Kathy and Matheson, Melissa (16 November 2011). "Dolly Parton gets lippy over her Aussie hero, Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese". News.com.au. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Monahan, Jeremy (3 March 2013). "Three Life Members inducted at Member Co AGM". South Sydney Rabbitohs. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Lane, Daniel (11 July 2010). "New push to sign up Howard". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
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External links
- Official website
- Search or browse Hansard for Anthony Albanese at OpenAustralia.org
- Photo gallery
- Personal page, Australian Parliament website
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byJeannette McHugh | Member of Parliament for Grayndler 1996–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byTony Abbott | Leader of the House of Representatives 2007–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded byMark Vaile | Minister for Infrastructure and Transport 2007–present | |
| Preceded bySimon Crean | Minister for Regional Development and Local Government 2013–present | |
| Preceded byWayne Swan | Deputy Prime Minister of Australia 2013–present | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded byWayne Swan | Deputy Leader of the Labor Party 2013–present |
Incumbent |
| (Gillard 2←) Second Rudd ministry (→ Abbott) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd | ||
 | ||
| (Gillard 1←) Second Gillard ministry (→ Rudd 2) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister: Julia Gillard | ||
|  | |
| (Howard 4←) First Rudd ministry (→ Gillard 1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd | ||
 | ||
| Current members of the Cabinet of Australia | |
|---|---|
- Use dmy dates from March 2013
- 1963 births
- Australian Roman Catholics
- Australian Labor Party politicians
- Australian people of Irish descent
- Australian politicians of Italian descent
- Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia
- Government ministers of Australia
- Living people
- Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grayndler
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia
- Politicians from Sydney
- Spouses of Australian politicians
- University of Sydney alumni