ANTHONY Albanese, a self-described cultural Catholic, has been sworn in as Australia’s 31st prime minister today, after leading Labor into government after nine years in opposition.
Mr Albanese is a 26-year veteran of the federal parliament, yet a long and brutal elction campaign was the first time many Australians got to focus in on his leadership and style. He conceded that many Australians did not know his background or what exactly he stood for.
In the full-glare of election campaigning, he took media crews to visit the humble inner Sydney housing estate where he was raised by his single, pensioner mother, and with an Italian name – Albanese – he appeared in front on ethnic audiences to pledge his support for multicultural Australia.
And even though the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference did not endorse any political party, during campaigning Mr Albanese used the opportunity of a visit to his old Catholic primary school and a private meeting with Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher, to signal his Catholic credentials.
In recent times, 59-year-old Albanese has also described himself as “half-Italian and half-Irish” and a “non-practising Catholic”.
Albo (as he has been nicknamed since his childhood) touched on all these aspects of his life during his victory acceptance speech on Saturday night.
“My fellow Australians, it says a lot about our great country that a son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown can stand before you tonight as Australia’s prime minister,” he said.
“Every parent wants more for the next generation than they had. My mother dreamt of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey in life inspires Australians to reach for the stars.
“I want Australia to continue to be a country that no matter where you live, who you worship, who you love or what your last name is, that places no restrictions on your journey in life. My fellow Australians, I think they’ve got the name by now. I think they’ve got that.
“I know at the beginning of the campaign they said people didn’t know me but I reckon they’ve got it.”
Mr Albanese’s claim as a “cultural Catholic” is linked to his late mother Maryanne, and his education at St Joseph’s Primary School in Camperdown and St Mary’s Cathedral College in Sydney.
As a Catholic-school boy, he attended local Labor Party meetings with his mother and grandparents.
He joined the party as a teen, was active in college and then went to work for the New South Wales party. He was elected to federal parliament on his 33rd birthday.
While he is no longer a churchgoer, his past association and schooling appear to be crucial in shaping his values in support of social justice and equal opportunity.
Quoting Pope Francis during a speech delivered in February, Mr Albanese said there was a “powerful overlap between those values and Labor values as we work on how to get through this pandemic”.
“What we have is a rare opportunity – in all likelihood a once-in-a-lifetime chance – to shape the future and emerge from the pandemic as a better, fairer nation,” he told members of the Church Community Restoration Project, including Catholic Social Services Australia, the Bible Society, Wesley Mission and World Vision.
Catholic organisations have welcomed Labor’s election victory, calling on the new government to tackle poverty and fix the aged care crisis.
“With the election of Anthony Albanese as PM, the millions of Australians that understand what it is like to struggle, day in and day out, to put food on the table, to make sure their kids get a good education, to live safely in a house they can call a home now have a national leader with the very same lived experiences,” Catholic Social Services Australia chair Francis Sullivan said.
“Today must be the start of a new beginning for the aged and infirmed, the single mothers, the poor and isolated, the underpaid and the overworked, the disabled and the dispossessed.”
Catholic Health Australia urged the Albanese Government to prioritise addressing the workforce crisis in health and aged care, reform the health insurance sector and make a greater commitment to palliative care.
“There is always a long list of pressing issues that confront any incoming government but delivering quality compassionate care to our elderly must be right at the top,” CHA chief executive Pat Garcia said.
“CHA stands ready to work with an Albanese government to deliver on its pledge for more and better skilled and better paid aged care workers.”
The election has delivered a clear rebuke to Australia’s traditional two-party system – both Labor and the Liberal-National coalition.
All major parties lost votes to the Greens and independent candidates, even in strong Labor or coalition strongholds.
Newly sworn-in Mr Albanese could form a majority government, yet the success of the Greens is a major talkingpoint from Election 2022.
The party won three extra senators, giving it 12 and the sole balance of power in the Senate.
Labor can’t pass anything through the Senate without the Greens, if it does not have the support of the Coalition opposition.
And the Greens are on track to take two, maybe three, seats in Queensland, swelling its lower house ranks to as many as four.
The final result will not be known for days and could be decided after postal votes are counted.
In the meantime, Mr Albanese and new foreign minister Penny Wong will head to a Quad summit in Tokyo – a meeting that will bring together leaders from the United States, Australia, Japan and India.
Mr Albanese will meet US president Joe Biden, also a Catholic, and with an affinity for the working class.
