Who is Anthony ‘Albo’ Albanese?

“Albanese’s story has now become an international symbol of social redemption, tenacity and political passion. As a son who grew up in a rented flat…” – Corrieri Bari.

Many Italians were interned as enemy aliens by the Curtin Labor government during the Second World War in Australia. While Anthony Albanese has publicly acknowledged his Italian ancestry, he has never made a public statement about the injustice of the internment of Italians as enemy aliens and fascists by the Curtin Labor government during the Second World War.

Albanese’s father, Carlo Albanese, was born in Barletta, in the region of Apulia (Puglia), Italy, on 2 November 1931. The birth date and place are supported by his conscription record (lista di leva) provided below.

Barletta Mayor Cosimo Damiano Cannito renewed his invitation to Anthony Albanese to return to his father’s birthplace and, at the same time, announced his intention to confer honorary citizenship upon him. This initiative had already been set out in an official letter sent in 2022 to the Australian Embassy in Italy, and is now becoming more concrete. – Corrieri Bari.

Barletta is a historic port city on the Adriatic coast of northern Puglia where Carlo was born in 1931. It was part of the Kingdom of Italy under the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini. Carlo spent his early childhood under Fascist rule, during the Second World War, and reached military age in the early years of the post-war Italian Republic. There is no evidence that Albo’s father was a fascist.

During the late 1940s/early 1950s, Carlo came of age in the new Italian Republic; a period of compulsory military service. In 1962 Albo’s father worked as an assistant steward aboard the TSS Fairsky, where he met Maryanne Ellery. Anthony Albanese was born in Sydney in 1963

So Barletta was a town ruled by Fascism during Carlo Albanese’s childhood.

Meanwhile on the south side of the equator, thousands of Italian migrants to Australia were interned under extremely harsh conditions by the Curtin Labor government. The authorities claimed they were fascists even though the youngest was only 16 years of age.

Who knows why Anthony Albanese refused an offer of honorary citizenship from his father’s hometown of Barletta, based on his connection with Carlo Albanese?

Although ‘Albo’ later developed a relationship with his father and his Italian relatives, that connection came only after he had spent most of his life believing his father was dead. Only Albanese himself can explain what the offer meant to him personally or why he chose not to accept it. I’m guessing that it has something to do with dual citizenship, even though the Italian offer is for honorary status. Australian parliamentarians are not permitted to hold dual citizenship.

Social fascism in Australia under the White Australia policy?

The Italians interned in concentration camps like Cowra (NSW) and Stewart’s Creek (NQld) during World War II were abandoned by the Catholic Church, despite a large Italian-speaking community and prominent leaders such as Daniel Mannix and James Duhig holding considerable public influence. James Duhig supported Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia in 1936 – 37.

No attempt was made to intern James Duhig, despite his support for Fascist Italy. When Labor’s Arthur Calwell became Minister for Immigration on 2 February 1945, Italian Australians were still being interned, although the numbers had begun to decline.

In an interview with Sue Yarrow for Queensland Speaks (30 July 2012), at 1:45:48, Ian Brusasco said that he had been reading a biography of John Curtin and recalled a passage at page 280 which, in his recollection, said: ‘Keep the dagoes out of here; keep Australia white.’ He went on to say that Australia preferred migrants from northern Italy rather than southern Italy, and that “I was fortunate to have been born in Australia and given the opportunities that came with it.” These may not have been Curtin’s words nevertheless as Prime Minister he did make this speech on 16^th December, 1941 in support of ‘White Australia’:

Never shall an enemy set foot upon the soil of this country without having at once arrayed against it the whole of the manhood of this nation with such strength and quality that this nation will remain for ever the home of sons of Britishers who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race. Our laws have proclaimed the standard of a White Australia [underlined]. We did not intend that to be and it never was an affront to other races. It was devised for economic and sound humane reasons. It was not challenged for 40 years. We intend to keep it, because we know it to be desirable. If we were to depart from it we should do so only as the result of free consent, not because it was sought to be taken from us by armed aggression.

Ian Brusasco whose father, Felice, emigrated from Italy would have preferred to go to Argentina. However, in 1923, he chose Australia as second best, after opposing Benito Mussolini’s regime and was imprisioned as an anti-fascist before leaving Italy. There is no evidence that Felice Brusasco was interned in Australia during the Second World War. [See Ian Brusasco | Queensland Speaks ]

Ian Brusasco was a businessman who owned a number of pharmacies and was a good friend of Labor Lord Mayor Clem Jones who was the richest mayor that Brisbane had ever had. Clem’s estate was valued between $150 and $200 million.

Ian Curr
8 July 2026

Here are the relevant parts of Prime Minister Albanese’s family tree:

Carlo Albanese
    Born: 2 November 1931
    Barletta, Italy
    Died: 2014, Barletta

    Education/early life:
    • Raised in Barletta during the Fascist era and post-war transition

    Military:
    • Italian national military service — probable
      Estimated period: early 1950s
      (exact dates, unit and rank not known)

    Civil occupations:
    • Assistant steward, TSS Fairsky (1962)
      Sitmar Line passenger ship
    • Later reported employment in Italy:
        – school caretaker/janitor
        – maître d’ in a restaurant

    Marriage:
    • Married in Italy, 1963
    • Wife’s name private

    Children:
    • Son (private)
    • Daughter (private)

Relationship with:

Maryanne Ellery
Born: Australia, 1936
Died: 2002

    Occupation:
    • Secretary / clerical worker

  Anthony Norman Albanese
        Born: 2 March 1963
        Sydney, Australia

        Occupations:
        • Research officer
        • Labor Party official
        • Member of Parliament for Grayndler (1996–present)
        • Cabinet minister
        • Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (2013)
        • Leader of the Australian Labor Party
        • Prime Minister of Australia (from 2022)

        Married:
       
Carmel Tebbutt
Born: 1964

Occupations:
            • Teacher
            • Community worker
            • NSW Labor politician
            • NSW Minister
            • Deputy Premier of New South Wales (2008–2011)

 Son: Nathan Albanese
                Born: 2000
                Occupation:
                • Private individual