Labor has won the Australian Federal Election, electing Anthony Albanese as the country's next Prime Minister. So, who is this mystery man?
 |
After winning the election, Anthony Albanese addressed Labor supporters at the Federal Labour Reception in Sydney. Wendell Teodoro for AFP |
Albanese succeeds Liberal Scott Morrison as Prime Minister of Australia, becoming the 31st person to occupy the position.
According to his website, he was the first member in his family to complete high school, let alone university.
"My mother raised me as a single parent in poor housing. That was a daring call in 1963. Mum hoped that my life would be better than hers... My mother was motivated by this idea as she wished for a better life for her kid. And it's the vision I want to see realized for my son. It is what motivates me to work towards a better Australia "According to a quotation from his website.
He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics after working various jobs and studying full-time.
Watch this ABC video profile of Albanese from the start of the campaign:
He was involved in student politics and was elected as Young Labour chairman of the party's al-Shabaab at the age of 22 and served as a research officer under the economic reformist government of Bob Hawke Labour's longest-serving prime minister.
It wasn't until 1996 that he entered Parliament and was elected federal MP for Gray Endler - the district where he grew up.
But just as Labour entered the first of two decade-long patches to the Opposition. The party's time in office from 2007 (when he became infrastructure minister) to his appointment as deputy prime minister in 2013 was marred by his public leadership spat Criticized both sides.
Those years shaped his reputation as a collaborator willing to work beyond ideological boundaries as the leader of the House of Representatives where he ran government affairs.
 |
| Anthony Albanese (centre) with his partner Jodie Haydon and his son Nathan Albanese at a reception after winning the election. Photo: AFP/Wendell Teodoro |
After its defeat in the 2010 election Labour has shouldered the burden of the country's first minority government in 70 years requiring it to win the backing of conservatives or independents to pass laws. But according to a measure cited by political commentators - the number of laws passed compared to the number of days In office - it turned out to be the most productive parliament in Australia.
There have been attempts to create chaos but what Anthony has done is ensure the government's work continues said the government's trade secretary Craig Emerson.
People who know Albanese say he gained pragmatism and a focus on social justice in his childhood struggles such as when he complained to a congressman as a teenager that his mother's stove was broken and he was truly inspired.
It made me resolve every day to help people growing up like me lead better lives Albanese told the National Press Club in January recalling how he sometimes depended on neighbors when his mother depended on disability pensions. Those who get food cannot feed him.