Mum’s the word: PM reveals late night cemetery visit to ‘have a chat’ with late mother
Anthony Albanese insists he won’t forget where he came from.
Fresh from a whirlwind trip to Tokyo where he was introduced to the world stage, the new prime minister revealed his return to Australia coincided with the 20th anniversary of his mother’s death.
After getting off the plane on Wednesday night he took a quiet moment to visit her grave and reflect on the past few days.
“Last night, I visited the cemetery to see her and to have a chat, it’s a big deal,” he told the Nine Network on Thursday.
Albanese said the significance of his life story and winning the election on Saturday wasn’t lost on him.
“When you grow up the way that I did, with a single mum in public housing, the expectation on your career path is not to rise to the position of prime minister,” he said.
“I hope that my journey does give people a bit of an uplift.
“No one gets there by themselves, you get there because people believe in you, because people provide you with support.”
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Attending the Quad meeting with US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was a good start for the new Labor government, Mr Albanese said.
“It really hit home, when people start to call you prime minister and you realise that you’re not looking around for someone else, it’s actually you,” he told the Seven Network.
Outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison had a very different return to “normal life’ – including a school drop-off for his two daughters.
Morrison says he “looking forward to being a dad again” following the coalition’s defeat but has no plans to leave federal politics.
He said he was is coming to terms with life as a “quiet Australian”, including doing the school drop-off run for his two daughters.
In his first interview since the coalition’s loss in the weekend federal election, the former prime minister has reflected on the “brutal” business of politics insisting he has always given equal weight to the good and the bad.
“That’s the nature of our democracy,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.
“I’ve never been one to get terribly flattered in victory nor pessimistic in defeat and I think you’ve got to look both of those things in the same way.”
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Spending more time with his family and in his southern Sydney electorate with the community who first elected him to parliament were his top priorities at the moment.
“(I’m) going back to being a quiet Australian in the (Sutherland) Shire,” he said.
Morrison, his wife Jenny and daughters Abbey and Lily are in the process of moving out of the prime minister’s official Sydney residence at Kirribilli.
He’s also resumed doing everyday tasks he’s missed during his tenure, including the school run.
“I’m looking forward to being a dad again.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend as much time as I would like with the family.”
Morrison says he is humbled by the opportunities given to him while prime minister rather than dwelling on the election loss.
“You take every opportunity you can to try and achieve what you’re looking to achieve for the country and that’s what I’ve done,” he said.
“I leave not with regrets but with a great sense of gratitude to the people of Australia.”
But he did regret former treasurer Josh Frydenberg losing his seat of Kooyong to independent Monique Ryan.
“I’m obviously devastated that Josh won’t be (in parliament). Josh was a huge part of the party’s future, and I certainly hope he still is in some way,” he said.
Morrison said he had no plans to leave federal politics.
“(The Liberal Party) will regroup and focus again under new leadership and I look forward to giving that new leadership every support,” he said.
