Anthony Albanese Biography| Portfolio
Anthony Albanese (Anthony Norman Albanese) is an Australian Labor Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament for Grayndler since 1996. From 27 June 2013 to 18 September 2013, Albanese served as Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister in the Second Rudd Ministry and Labor Party Deputy Leader from 26 June 2013 to 14 October 2013.
Albanese was born in Sydney and studied economics at St Mary’s Cathedral College before going to Sydney University. He joined the Labor Party as a student and worked as a party official and research officer before entering politics himself. At the 1996 federal election, Albanese was elected to parliament and won the Grayndler Division.
In 2001, he was named to the shadow cabinet. Albanese became Minister of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Local Government under Kevin Rudd when Labor won the 2007 election and was also appointed House Leader.
Albanese lost regional development and local government portfolios when Julia Gillard replaced Rudd as prime minister in 2010, becoming simply Minister of Infrastructure and Transport. He publicly announced in 2012 that he was backing Rudd’s return to the prime ministry.
Anthony Albanese ImageRudd won back the leadership of the party in June 2013 after two previous contests. Albanese has been elected as his deputy and has become deputy prime minister. He has also been appointed Minister of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy. After the defeat of Labor at the 2013 election, Albanese stood up for party leadership against Bill Shorten but was defeated. He is regarded as one of the Labor Left faction leaders.
Anthony Albanese Age
Albanese was born in the inner-Sydney suburb of Camperdown on 2 March 1963. He is 56 years old as of 2019.
Anthony Albanese Family| Anthony Albanese Mother| Early Life
Albanese was born in Camperdown’s inner Sydney suburb, Carlo Albanese’s son and Maryanne Ellery’s son. His mother, while his father was from Barletta, Italy, was of Irish descent. His parents met on a cruise ship, but they didn’t pursue a relationship and they went their own way.
Growing up, it was told to Albanese that in a car accident his father had died. Until he was a teenager, he did not learn the truth. It wasn’t until 2009 that he met his father, tracking him down with the help of the Italian embassy. He later found out he had two half-siblings.
Anthony Albanese Education
Albanese was educated at St Joseph’s Primary School in Camperdown and St Mary’s Cathedral College in Sydney.He was raised in public housing by a single mother and said that she raised him with “three great faiths: the Catholic Church, the South Sydney Football Club and Labor” adding that he had always remained true to the latter two.
He worked for the Commonwealth Bank for two years after finishing school before studying economics at Sydney University. There he became involved in student politics and was elected to the Students ‘ Representative Council. It was also where he began his rise as a key player in the Labor Party’s left faction.
Albanese graduated and assumed the role of Research Officer to Tom Uren, the then Minister of Local Government and Administrative Services, who was to become a mentor to him. In 1989, when John Faulkner was selected for a Senate seat, the position of Assistant General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party’s New South Wales branch became vacant and Albanese assumed the role for the next six years. In 1995, as a senior advisor to New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr, he returned to political work.
Anthony Albanese Carmel Tebbutt (Ex-Wife)
He was married to Carmel Tebbutt, Albanese, the Former Deputy Premier of New South Wales and former member of the Marrickville State Electoral District. In 2000, Tebbutt married Albanese who later became the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in the Rudd and Gillard federal Labor governments. The Greens dubbed them the ‘King and Queen of Marrickville’ as Carmel’s former state seat of Marrickville was contained almost entirely within her husband’s federal seat of Grayndler. Albanese and Carmel are no longer together as of 2019.
Anthony Albanese Office
When Jeannette McHugh announced she would not recontest her seat of Grayndler at the 1996 election, Albanese won preselection for the seat. Despite suffering a six-point swing, Albanese was elected with a comfortable 16-point majority. 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.”
Anthony Albanese at Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, 2003 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. Albanese has since turned his attention to same-sex marriage. 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.
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 Leader of the Opposition, 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.
Following Labor’s victory at the 2007 election, Albanese’s rise in standing within the Party was evidenced by his appointment as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Regional Development and Local Government and Leader of the House of Representatives in the Rudd Ministry.
The Labor Party had gone to the election criticising the previous government for ignoring “Long term nation-building in favour of short term political spending”. One of Albanese’s first moves as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport was the establishment of an independent statutory body, Infrastructure Australia, to advise the Government on infrastructure priorities.
A year into government, he was described as “Rudd’s head kicked in Parliament, where he has been one of the standout performers for Labor”.
Following the 2010 election which resulted in a hung parliament, Albanese was a key player in negotiating the support of independent members Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott and then found that managing legislation through the House was not just a head kickers role but one requiring considerable diplomacy.
In 2011, Albanese introduced two more policy reforms. During Question time, Albanese labelled the protesters outside as “The convoy of no consequence”. This caused outrage among supporters of the protest and a week later a public rally in support of the truckies was held outside Albanese’s electorate office in Marrickville.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd resigned as Minister for Foreign Affairs in February 2012 to challenge prime minister Julia Gillard. Shortly before the ballot, Anthony Albanese came out in support of Rudd stating he had always been unhappy with the manner of Rudd’s removal.
He tearfully explained how he had offered his resignation as Leader of the House to the prime minister but she had refused to accept it.
In response to a question on his personal feelings around the leadership spill, he stated “I like fighting Tories. That’s what I do.” The destabilization continued and a year later in March 2013, a number of ministers were sacked or forced to resign after an abortive coup.
One of these was Simon Crean and Albanese added Crean’s responsibilities as Minister for Regional Development and Local Government to his portfolio. Three months later on 26 June 2013, Kevin Rudd defeated Julia Gillard in another Labor Party leadership vote.
The same ballot saw Albanese elected by caucus as Deputy Leader and ultimately he was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister.
In the ministerial reshuffle that followed, Albanese retained his role as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Leader of the House, lost the recently acquired Regional Development and Local Government portfolio, and gained the important Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy portfolio.
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”.
Following the defeat of the second Rudd government at the 2013 election, Albanese announced his candidacy as the Leader of the Labor Party in a contest with Bill Shorten.
In October 2013, he became the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and the Shadow Minister for Tourism in Shorten’s Shadow Cabinet. In September 2014, Albanese was given the additional responsibility as the Shadow Minister for Cities.
Anthony Albanese Speech
Albanese’s manifesto speech? It’s all about giving Labor an alternative.
It’s rare these days for a speech by a political figure to have a longish tail, but Anthony Albanese’s manifesto delivered last Friday is one such outing.
It has resonated not only because of the content, which was interesting but because of the timing. Federal politics has washed up at something of a crossroads – the government has legislated its income tax cuts, byelections are afoot in several states, and early election talk persists despite Malcolm Turnbull’s regular efforts to shake it off.
Labour targets Turnbull over penalty rates as Shorten defends union record – as it happened
Read more
So what is Albanese is up to?
First and foremost, if you look at what he said, Albanese wants Labor to win the next federal election. Let’s consider the values first. If you boil the speech down to its essence, Albanese is projecting a set of values that Labor has telegraphed when it has taken government decisively at the federal level. Gough Whitlam. Bob Hawke. Kevin Rudd.
The speech reflects a dialogue Labor has with itself about striking the right balance between labourism and progressivism, which was the less-than-subtle subtext of the recent battle for the ALP presidency between Mark Butler (a fellow leftwinger close to Albanese) and Wayne Swan.
Albanese is saying Labor doesn’t win federal elections by consolidating its industrial base, it wins by successfully framing the future – articulating a positive, progressive pitch for the political centre.
The heavy emphasis on positivity leads us to a presentation. The point of having a positive pitch is it has the potential to cut through the combative, hyperpartisan bitch-slapping and mauling that has driven the primary vote of both Australia’s major parties down into the 30s.
Political parties can certainly win by going aggressively negative – just ask Tony Abbott. They play this card because it works, but it also creates transaction costs. Abbott won government by tearing down his opponents but establishing himself as a builder and a unifier proved significantly harder.
Albanese has made this point more than once in public outings over many months, all of them much less publicised than Friday’s Gough Whitlam address. Presumably, he means it.
But there is also some internal subtext.
The positivity message and the idea that Labor can’t afford to go the full beat down on the business community (which got a run in the speech too) is the resting view of the faction that always plays a critical role in determining who the Labor leader is – the NSW right.
Shorten says he’s not offended by Albanese’s Labor manifesto speech
Read more
The institutional message – we can’t be creatures of the unions when hardly anyone belongs to unions any more – hangs a lantern over Shorten’s power base in the labour movement.
So the Albanese speech was about framing an alternative. An alternative way to beat the Liberals. Implicit too in the presentation is a leadership alternative in the event colleagues begin to wonder with more agitation whether the next election is really in the bag for Labor.
So is skulduggery afoot? No, at least no more than usual in a building full of ambitious types. Skulduggery wasn’t really the point.
Albanese’s speech is a pitch to be drafted in the event internal confidence wavers over the coming months. It wasn’t a declaration of war. What would be the point? The stars will either align or they won’t.
Which brings us to some mechanics. A lot of people think Labor can’t change leaders because of the Rudd rules, which were introduced as a circuit breaker when the ALP destroyed itself in government during the Kevin/Julia/Kevin era.
This isn’t actually right. Those rules are in the sole control of the Labor caucus; they aren’t bolted in elsewhere.
In the event that a significant majority of the caucus takes a position that those rules are now surplus to requirements, they can be suspended or revoked. The transaction costs of doing that would be extremely high, but it’s certainly not impossible.
The other dynamic to bear in mind in considering any possible alignment of any stars is that Albanese’s faction, the left, is bitterly divided. The left was divided at the time he lost the Labor leadership to Bill Shorten despite securing almost 60% support from the grassroots ballot, and the divisions are worse now than they were in 2013.
Anthony Albanese Twitter
Anthony Albanese Facebook
Anthony Albanese News
Anthony Albanese says high-speed rail most ‘competitive’ and ‘proven’ option for eastern seaboard.
Labor will be betting on “proven” technologies such as high-speed rail, Anthony Albanese says, and leaving “hypothetical” tech such as Elon Musk’s Hyperloop to gestate for a while before looking to it as the answer to Australia’s transportation solution.
A Los Angeles transport and technology company has suggested the Hyperloop could solve Australia’s distance problem, floating the idea to a federal parliamentary inquiry looking at land-based transport and automation developments.
The technology, which remains untested, involves magnetic capsules levitating in tubes where the air pressure has been reduced to levels to allow for almost no air friction, enabling travel at speeds of up to 1,223km/h.
‘Faster, cheaper, cleaner’: experts disagree about Elon Musk’s Hyperloop claims
Musk raised the idea in a 2012 speech. Since then, tech companies have worked to make it a reality, but so far no government has bitten.
The US-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies wants the Australian government to aid with a feasibility study while also partnering with it in adapting the technology for Australia’s eastern seaboard.
Albanese said he preferred tested methods for Australia’s taxpayer funds, at least in this case.
“Well look, the Hyperloop is of course at this stage hypothetical and what I support is proven technology,” he said. “We have proven technology available for high-speed rail here in Australia, particularly down the east coast from Brisbane, through Sydney, to Canberra and Melbourne.
“What that would do is reduce the commute times to under three hours between Sydney and Brisbane.
“Now I flew up to Brisbane this morning, it took me more than three hours door to door, even though I live practically under the runway at Kingsford Smith airport. The fact is, high-speed rail is competitive.
“My view is we need to advance that project, which is why I have a private member’s bill to create a high-speed rail authority before the parliament.”
Albanese won a vote in the parliament to see a high-speed rail authority created, with the crossbench coming on board in support earlier this month. While it was not the absolute majority needed to force the debate, Labor sees it as an indication it would have the needed support to establish the first step in a high-speed rail line for Australia, if it wins power at the next election.
As Labor’s transport spokesman, Albanese said he would be traveling to San Francisco next month to investigate new transport technologies that have been developed along the US’s west coast.
Why are we still waiting for high-speed rail between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane?
“We need to be cognisant of the fact that technologies are available right now which would reduce time of travel not just between Sydney and Brisbane but importantly from Brisbane to the Gold Coast and regional areas like Lismore and really open up that regional economic development along that corridor, which would really take pressure off our capital cities.”
A high-speed rail along Australia’s east coast has been suggested by governments since Malcolm Fraser was in power but distance, cost and jurisdictional differences between the states had stymied each suggestion, to the point it is still in the proposal stage almost 40 years later.
Albanese picked up the case almost five years ago and has vowed to make it a reality, with Labor to establish the high-speed rail authority if it wins government.
About InformationCradle Editorial Staff
This Article is produced by InformationCradle Editorial Staff which is a team of expert writers and editors led by Josphat Gachie and trusted by millions of readers worldwide.
We endeavor to keep our content True, Accurate, Correct, Original and Up to Date. For complain, correction or an update, please send us an email to informationcradle@gmail.com. We promise to take corrective measures to the best of our abilities.