Anthony Albanese made an emotional lonely pilgrimage to his mother’s graveside on the 20th anniversary of her death last night as soon as he arrived back from Tokyo.
The new Prime Minister made the late night dash to the cemetery on Wednesday the moment his flight back from the Quad summit meeting touched down in Sydney.
‘I travelled out to the cemetery to see her and have a chat,’ he told Nine’s Today show host Karl Stefanovic. ‘It was a big deal.
‘It was a private moment. I went there by myself.’
Mr Albanese, 59, was brought up by his disabled single mother Maryanne in a housing commission home in Camperdown in Sydney’s inner west.
His mother suffered an aneurysm and collapsed in the laundry of the home on Mothers Day 2002. She died in hospital two weeks later on May 25, 2002.
‘Mum always gave me unconditional love,’ Mr Albanese said previously. ‘Mum had rheumatoid arthritis that crippled her joints and meant she couldn’t work.
‘She lived on a disability pension. Life wasn’t easy, and her health made things even harder – but we got through because of her.
‘And I feel very privileged to have had that. Mums really are special.’
Anthony Albanese made an emotional lonely pilgrimage to his mother’s graveside on the 20th anniversary of her death last night as soon as he arrived back from Tokyo
Daily Mail Australia has been given an exclusive look behind the door of the humble home where the PM grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
As a kid, the new PM may have lain on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and dreaming of the day when he would run the country.
Now he does.
And while his posters for The Saints, The Cure and Midnight Oil are long gone from its walls, his teenage bedroom would still be instantly recognisable to him.
While his posters for The Saints, The Cure and Midnight Oil are long gone from its walls, Anthony Albanese’s childhood bedroom would still be instantly recognisable to him
His bedroom – one of three on the top floor – led onto a balcony which had been converted into a sunroom/study overlooking the neighbouring backyards.
Downstairs there is a front room which looks out onto the pavement of busy Pyrmont Bridge Road, while the sizeable kitchen leads off into generous laundry and accesses the compact concrete-slabbed backyard.
The building was part of a development aimed at giving workers access to an affordable rented family home close to the city with a backyard for kids play safely.
The honey-bricked set of 20 homes are now heritage listed, but suffered flooding in the recent deluges, leaving the backyard and entrance slimy with mossy algae.
The honey-bricked set of 20 homes are now heritage listed, but suffered flooding in the recent deluges, leaving the concrete slabbed backyard and entrance slimy with mossy algae
Albo’s old home is almost exactly as it was when he lived there between 1963 and 1990
‘We lived in council housing, which gave us a sense of security and stability. It was our home,’ Mr Albanese admitted last year.
‘When they tried to sell our council house, it felt like our home was being taken from us.’
However the three-bedroom, two storey home, built in 1927, remained public housing stock, and continues to be so today.
Current tenant Roza Yakubova is determined to keep it just as it was to honour his memory, and has tried to keep it as original as possible.
She has stripped back the painted floorboards to restore them to the beautiful polished finish Mr Albanese would remember from his days there.
Current tenant Roza Yakubova is determined to keep it just as it was to honour his memory, and has tried to keep it as original as possible. She has stripped back the painted floorboards to restore them to the beautiful polished finish Anthony Albanese would remember from his days there
Anthony Albanese’s upbringing in Camperdown is a far cry from the life of luxury he will now enjoy as PM at Kirribilli House on Sydney’s North Shore and The Lodge in Canberra
But it’s a far cry from the life of luxury Mr Albanese will now enjoy as PM at Kirribilli House on Sydney’s North Shore and The Lodge in Canberra.
Mr Albanese told Stefanovic: ‘I hope that [my story] gives people hope, whether they be single mums or people going through difficulties in life and their children.
‘I hope that my journey does give people a bit of an uplift, because it’s not about me, No one gets there by themselves.
‘You get there because people believe in you. Because people provide you with support.
‘The neighbours who cooked me meals when I was there as a school student, looking after me – that sense of community that was there in Camperdown.’
Mr Albanese moved out in 1990 when he bought a home in Marrickville – and still lives on that same Marrickville street today – but he has never forgotten his roots.
And he says that sense of community was revealed when news of his election victory came through at the weekend and his neighbours came out to celebrate with him.
Anthony Albanese (seen here with his dog Toto, girlfriend Jodie Haydon and son Nathan) says his neighbours came out to celebrate with him when news of his election victory came through
‘That sense of feeling was there on Saturday night when we came out of the house in Marrickville – it was reasonably late, about 11 o’clock or thereabouts,’ he said.
‘And it was like the whole neighbourhood were on the street, just cheering the change in direction for this country.’
He revealed son Nathan, 21, knocked back beers as they watched the results come in before being thrust into the spotlight on stage alongside his dad at Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club as Mr Albanese claimed victory.
‘He was a bit nervous on on Saturday night,’ admitted the PM. ‘He had a couple of beers before we headed off to the RSL.
‘The rest of us were were being very responsible in spite of the pressure that was there on Saturday.’
Anthony Albanese revealed son Nathan, 21, knocked back beers as they watched the results come in before being thrust into the spotlight on stage alongside his dad at Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club as Mr Albanese claimed victory.