Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was sworn in on Monday. One of the country’s most experienced politicians, Albanese became prime minister after the Labor Party won the election for the first time in more than a decade. What is known about the new leader of the country and what does he promise the voters?

Together with him, key government ministers took the oath: Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Secretary Penny Wong, Treasury Secretary Cathy Gallagher and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Immediately after taking office, Albanese and Wong traveled to Japan for a summit of QUAD, the quadripartite security advisory mechanism for the Indo-Pacific region. QUAD, in addition to Australia and Japan, includes the United States and India.

The 59-year-old politician, known to voters as Albo, grew up in social housing and was raised by a single mother, Marianne Ellery, who lived on a disability pension.

He often cites upbringing as the foundation of his convictions and success.

His mother was able to provide him with opportunities that she herself never had. With her support, he became the first in their family to finish school and go to university.

Albanese believed that his father had died before he was born, but learned as a teenager that his mother had in fact become pregnant by a married man she had met while traveling in Europe.

When he was in his 40s, he sought out Carlo Albanese, who lived in Italy, and met with his father and half-siblings. Anthony Albanese himself has only one child, son Nathan.

In 2019, Albanese separated from his wife, with whom he lived for 19 years, he participated in the election campaign with his girlfriend Jodie Haydon.

Albanese is one of the most experienced Australian politicians, the leader of the Labor Party that won the election for the first time in the last ten years.

Over the course of his career, Albanese has developed a reputation as an advocate for Australia’s free healthcare system, an advocate for the LGBT community, a Republican and an avid rugby fan.

Albanese has been leader of the Labor Party for the past three years, taking office after a shock 2019 election loss to his predecessor, Bill Shorten.

But he became a supporter of the Labor Party at the age of 20.

In 2007, when Labor came to power under Kevin Rudd, Anthony Albanese became Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.

He remained a powerful figure as the party entered a difficult period after it replaced Kevin Rudd with Julia Gillard in 2010.

When, thanks to the support of Anthony Albanese, Rudd regained the premiership in 2013, Albanese became his deputy. However, he only held the position for 10 weeks because Labor lost the election.

Albanese then nominated himself to head the party. Despite Albanese’s popularity among the rank and file members of the party, his rival Bill Shorten enjoyed more support among members of Parliament and won the post, becoming the leader of the Australian opposition.

Albanese’s time came in 2019, after Shorten lost the election twice and stepped down as Labor leader.

Albanese became leader of the Labor Party.

The new premier has promised voters “comfortable changes” that he says should come after the conservative Liberal-National coalition, which has been in power since 2013, weakens its influence.

In areas where former Prime Minister Scott Morrison was a “bulldozer”, Anthony Albanese vows to be a “builder”.

After the pandemic, when Australian states were cut off from each other and cities were separated by strict quarantines, returning a sense of unity to the country has become a top priority for the new leader.

“I want to unite Australians. I want to promote unity and optimism, not fear and division,” Anthony Albanese said in Saturday night’s victory speech.

During the election campaign, the left-wing politician did stick to a centrist position, including to get the votes of conservative voters who did not vote for the party in 2019.

Thus, he has withdrawn his support for an aggressive climate action policy, while at the same time using tough rhetoric on China and national security.

He also supported Australia’s controversial policy of returning all refugees arriving in the country by boat to where they came from, something he once publicly opposed.

However, he remained true to his Labor roots, promising more generous funding for the country’s elderly care, lowering the cost of childcare, and revitalizing the manufacturing industry.

Labor also pledged to hold a referendum on constitutionally enshrining Indigenous voting rights in Parliament, a consultative body that would give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a voice in shaping policies that affect them.

Anthony Albanese began his victory speech by repeating that promise.

His other key promise was to put the interests of Australians first, inspiring them by his example.

“It says a lot about our great country that the son of a single mother on a disability pension who grew up in social housing… can stand before you tonight as Prime Minister of Australia. I want Australia to remain a country where no matter where you live, who you worship, who you love or what your last name is, there are no restrictions on the path of life,” the new prime minister said.