Anthony Albanese

The Honourable
Anthony Albanese
MP
Official portrait, 2022
31st Prime Minister of Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office
23 May 2022
MonarchsElizabeth II
Charles III
Governors GeneralDavid Hurley
Sam Mostyn
DeputyRichard Marles
Preceded byScott Morrison
21st Leader of the Labor Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 May 2019
DeputyRichard Marles
Preceded byBill Shorten
Leader of the Opposition
In office
30 May 2019 – 23 May 2022
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
DeputyRichard Marles
Preceded byBill Shorten
Succeeded byPeter Dutton
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
In office
27 June 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime MinisterKevin Rudd
Preceded byWayne Swan
Succeeded byWarren Truss
Deputy Leader of the Labor Party
In office
26 June 2013 – 13 October 2013
LeaderKevin Rudd
Preceded byWayne Swan
Succeeded byTanya Plibersek
Previous offices 2007–⁠2013
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
In office
3 December 2007 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister
Preceded byMark Vaile
Succeeded byWarren Truss
Leader of the House
In office
3 December 2007 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister
  • Kevin Rudd
  • Julia Gillard
DeputyStephen Smith
Preceded byTony Abbott
Succeeded byChristopher Pyne
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
In office
1 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime MinisterKevin Rudd
Preceded byStephen Conroy
Succeeded byMalcolm Turnbull (as Minister for Communications)
Minister for Regional Development and Local Government
In office
25 March 2013 – 1 July 2013
Prime Minister
  • Julia Gillard
  • Kevin Rudd
Preceded bySimon Crean
Succeeded byCatherine King
In office
3 December 2007 – 14 September 2010
Prime Minister
  • Kevin Rudd
  • Julia Gillard
Preceded byJim Lloyd
Succeeded bySimon Crean
Manager of Opposition Business
In office
10 December 2006 – 3 December 2007
LeaderKevin Rudd
Preceded byJulia Gillard
Succeeded byJoe Hockey
Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Grayndler
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 March 1996
Preceded byJeannette McHugh
Personal details
Born
Anthony Norman Albanese

(1963-03-02) 2 March 1963 (age 61)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLabor
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2019)​
Domestic partner(s)Jodie Haydon (2021–present, engaged in 2024)
Children1
Residences
Alma materUniversity of Sydney (BEc)
Signature
Website
NicknameAlbo
Anthony Albanese's voice
Albanese speaking about his party's foreign policy and the legacy of Prime Minister John Curtin
Recorded 4 March 2022
This article is part of
a series about
Anthony Albanese
  • Royal Commissions
  • Elections
Government of Australia

Anthony Norman Albanese (/ˌælbəˈniːzi/ AL-bə-NEE-zee or /ˈælbəniːz/ AL-bə-neez;[nb 1] born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022.[3] He has been the leader of the Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Grayndler since 1996. Albanese previously served as the 15th deputy prime minister under the second Rudd government in 2013. He held various ministerial positions from 2007 to 2013 in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.[4]

Albanese was born in Sydney to an Italian father and an Irish-Australian mother, who raised him as a single parent. Albanese attended St Mary's Cathedral College and studied economics at the University of Sydney. As a student, he joined the Labor Party and later worked as a party official and research officer before entering Parliament.

Albanese was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1996 election, winning the seat of Grayndler in New South Wales. He was first appointed to the shadow cabinet in 2001 by Simon Crean and went on to serve in a number of roles, eventually becoming Manager of Opposition Business in 2006. After Labor's victory in the 2007 election, Albanese was appointed Leader of the House, and was also made Minister for Regional Development and Local Government and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. In the subsequent leadership tensions between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2010 to 2013, Albanese was publicly critical of the conduct of both, calling for party unity. After supporting Rudd in the final leadership ballot between the two in June 2013, Albanese was elected the deputy leader of the Labor Party and sworn in as deputy prime minister the following day, a position he held for less than three months, as Labor was defeated at the 2013 election.

Rudd retired from politics, so Albanese stood against Bill Shorten in the October 2013 Australian Labor Party leadership election. Although Albanese won a large majority of the membership, Shorten won more heavily among Labor MPs and became leader. Shorten subsequently appointed Albanese to his Shadow Cabinet. After Labor's surprise defeat in the 2019 election, Shorten resigned as leader, with Albanese becoming the only person nominated in the leadership election to replace him; he was subsequently elected unopposed as leader of the Labor Party, becoming Leader of the Opposition.[5][6]

In the 2022 election, Albanese led his party to victory against Scott Morrison's Liberal-National Coalition.[7][8][9][10] He was sworn in on 23 May 2022.[11][12] Albanese's first acts as prime minister included proposing a change to the Constitution to include an Indigenous Voice to Parliament,[13][14][15] updating Australia's climate targets in an effort to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and supporting an increase to the national minimum wage. His government legislated a national anti-corruption commission, made major changes to Australian labour law and established the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme. In foreign policy, Albanese pledged further logistical support to Ukraine to assist with the Russo-Ukrainian war, attempted to strengthen relations in the Pacific region, and held several high-level discussions with Chinese president Xi Jinping, overseeing an easing of tensions and trade restrictions put on Australia by China. He also oversaw the official commencement of the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

  1. ^ Middleton 2016, p. 240.
  2. ^ Webb, Tiger (30 May 2019). "Anthony Albanese can't decide how to pronounce his name, so don't ask him". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  3. ^ Wu, David (22 May 2022). "Five Labor MPs to be immediately sworn in ahead of key Quad trip". Sky News Australia. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Anthony Albanese – Australian Labor Party". www.alp.org.au. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  5. ^ Murphy, Katharine (19 May 2019). "Anthony Albanese kicks off Labor leadership race with call for policy shift". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  6. ^ Martin, Sarah (27 May 2019). "Anthony Albanese elected unopposed as Labor leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  7. ^ "New Aussie PM and his Italian heritage". Italianinsider.it. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Anthony Albanese on becoming first Australian-Italian Prime Minister". News.com.au. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  9. ^ Tamer, Rayane. "Anthony Albanese to be first Australian prime minister with non-Anglo-Celtic surname, praises 'great multicultural society'". SBS News. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  10. ^ Cassidy, Caitlin (23 May 2022). "Anthony Albanese is Australia's first PM with a non-Anglo surname. So how do you pronounce it?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Anthony Albanese sworn in as Prime Minister". The New Daily. 23 May 2022. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  12. ^ Worthington, Brett (23 May 2022). "Anthony Albanese and four senior frontbenchers sworn in ahead of Quad trip". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Referendum 2023". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum". abc.net.au. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Morrison questioned why he'd take a Voice to Parliament to a referendum. So why would Peter Dutton?". ABC News. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2023.


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