Humble beginnings for our prime minister, Anthony Albanese

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I wanted to say more about our prime minister, Anthony Albanese. While working overseas, his mother became pregnant to an Italian. Due to social pressures, she returned to Australia. Albanese was always told his father had died in a car accident. He grew up in public housing in Sydney, living with his mother and maternal grandparents. His mother suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and worked as a cleaner. When his grandfather died, they lived on her disability pension and his grandmother’s age pension. So he grew up in a working-class environment and, once at university, was a typical student, balancing activism, study and work. This, plus his family background, gave him strong ideals in the areas of social justice and public service. Once he knew the truth about his father, he visited him in Italy several times. He married his first wife in 2000 but divorced about 19 ½ years. He has an adult son from that marriage. Coming from such humble beginnings, he does seem to have compassion for others. Let’s hope he never loses that. The photo, taken by Mike Bowers, shows Albanese’s adult son, Nathan, the happy groom and Toto, his dog and ring-bearer.