“I’m half Irish, half Italian, Mate!”

“I’m half Irish, half Italian, mate!”

On the campaign trail Mr Albanese was keen to stress that he wasn’t the typical candidate for the top job. “We’re a diverse country, and the fact that I have a non-AngloCeltic name... I think it sends a message out there hopefully to multicultural Australia that you can achieve anything in this country,” he told reporters in the run up to the May 21 poll. Before and during the election campaign there was plenty of discussion in the media about the correct way to pronounce his Italian surname. The outgoing government party even built one of their main slogans around it: “It won’t be easy under Albanese”. When asked about how he would like people to pronounce his Italian name Albanese is very relaxed about it and tells people just to call him ‘Albo’. His profound love and respect for this mother Maryanne Therese (née Ellery) who was called Mary amongst family members and the discovery of the Italian side of his life story was fully documented in his 2016 biography ‘Albanese – Telling it Straight’, written by political journo Karen Middleton, and extensively reported by the media. He also claims Irish heritage but exactly what that is is much less obvious. The issue came up during a Triple M radio interview in Perth in March this year when he was asked about it directly. “We’ve got the Leader of the opposition in the studio with us,” the show host said. “Anthony Albanese, we learned earlier half Italian, half Irish*. Mr Albanese, are you more one than the other?”. In his response Albo spoke openly about his Italian links. “I was raised very much here in the sort of Aussie culture, I guess,” Albo said. “My mum was, there was just me and my mum at home, and she was very much an Aussie Catholic, I guess….My family are from Puglia, down in the south. And thank goodness for social media. They’ve done it tough through the pandemic over there but I’ve been able to keep in contact with them. And it’s a great thing, being able to talk to the other side of the world. Mind you, they ring sometimes at really inconvenient times. They don’t get the time difference.” That was the full extent of his answer to the question! * This appears to be a reference to another Triple M interview Albanese gave in Brisbane in February 2021. One of the presenters asked him about ScoMo, Hillsong, the Christian vote and if “you [will] be joining him?”. The then opposition leader answered: “Mate, I’m half Irish, half Italian, so guess what religion I am? See if you can work that out. I’ll give you I’ll give you the clue. Rome. It begins with Rome.” While he acknowledged his Irish heritage he did not elaborate on it. Albo describes himself as a ‘cultural Catholic’ and while his faith in the religion may have lapsed the faith of his mum was profound. She died 20 years ago but has been the singular and most important influence on him as an individual. From his maiden speech in parliament to the gruelling campaign trail and in his victory speech on election night it is clear that his values and outlook were defined by her.

Schoolboy Anthony.

When she was 25 years old – the same age as Albo when he was in Dublin – she took a cruise from Sydney to Southampton and had a romantic relationship with a handsome Italian steward working on the ship. She fell pregnant and at the end of the voyage the lovers went their separate ways. She raised him as a single parent on a council estate. He grew up believing his father had married his mum but was tragically killed in a car crash but his mum revealed the truth when he turned 14. “She made the courageous decision in 1963 to keep a child she had out of wedlock,” Mr Albanese said in May as he campaigned for the top job. “She chose, in order to – to deal with the pressures that were on a young Catholic woman at that time, in those circumstances, to take my father’s name, and I was raised being told that he had died. That’s a tough decision. It says something about the pressure that was placed on women. And pressures that are still placed on women, when faced with difficult circumstances. So, the fact that – that young kid is now running for prime minister, says a lot about her. And her courage. But also says a lot about this country. About this country.” If his dad was Italian then it figures the Irish heritage was on his mother’s side. She is sometimes described as being an Irish Australian or Australian of Irish descent but what that means exactly has been difficult to define but there are some clues that he has a soft spot for it. “Think every Irish person in Australia is at #Kilkenny v #Galway #hurling at Sydney Showground,” he tweeted on November 11, 2018 for the full format hurling match played that day, as part of the Magners Sydney Irish Festival in Sydney Olympic Park. “Was a fun afternoon #hurling,” the sports – and music – mad MP added. Despite my best attempts to get a copy of his 2016 biography through a public library or bookshop the best I was able to manage was to read the first few chapters online for free that deal with Albanese’s family background and his mother (in great detail) can be previewed online but these make no mention of a specific connection to Ireland. Attempts at

Anthony with mum Maryanne Therese. extensive online research produced remarkably little information. Irish Scene sent questions to the prime minister’s press office in the full realisation and understanding that there are incredible demands on his time and attention at the formation of a new government. He has pledged to visit Western Australia ten times a year in recognition of the state’s critical role in helping elect him as the leader of a majority government. Perhaps on one of those trips there might be an opportunity for Irish Scene to discover more about the Irish side of his identity. It might not be a straightforward answer and only he knows the answers. At the very least it might be fun to find out some of his memories about his time in Dublin.